Swoon For Boon

Thanks to Little Baby Garvin for the heads up on great baby products! I'd never heard of Boon, Inc. until today and I'm hooked at all of the great baby junk they offer. Yes, I have a bottle drying rack...but the Lawn rack is so much prettier. And, yes, I have baby spoons/dishes for solid foods...but the Squirt is WAY better. I could use a regular old knife to cut up a banana for my cereal and for little man's future solid foods...but Nanner is immensely cooler {plus the name is amazing!}.

Love the product names. Love the product descriptions. Love everything....can't wait to add a lot of these to little man's collection of stuff. Check them out....

Going to have...

Lawn Countertop Drying Rack
Can't wait to get this bad boy in!

Lawn Drying Rack Accessory

Twig Drying Rack Accessory

Squirt Baby Food Dispensing Spoon
Are you kidding me....dump the food into the Squirt spoon & squeeze out as needed.

Need to have....

Nanner Hand-Held Banana Slicer
How freakin' cute is this thing?!?! {And the name!}

Flair Pedestal High Chair
Love our Chicco 360 chair, but this is gorg!!

Glo Color-ChangingNightlight w/ Portable Glowing Balls
In LOVE w/ this nightlight!

Removable Glo balls. Turn a light into a game of catch -
they don't get warm and they won't break (not electric).
Glow fades after 30 minutes, helping them fall asleep
(95% effective at keeping monsters away).

Flaunt Shelf Displayx

Curl Baby Shoe Rack

Penguin Stack Snack Container

So many fun products...and so little time!

Feeling Better...

Though we haven't heard for sure, I'm fairly certain little man will be getting fitted for a helmet in the next few weeks/months. It's not for lack of working with him, but his little head is still mis-shapen due to plagiocephaly {asymmetrical head-shape}, . As much as it's bothered me {you know this from my past posts}, I'm coming to terms with this fact and I just want him to get better. And if putting him in a cranial remolding helmet will help ensure he doesn't have any future issues caused by this, then I would do it tomorrow.

After continuous research online and in different parent chat rooms, I found solice in one of my favorite blogs...I've been reading "Preston the Puggle" for quite some time and didn't even realize until last week's post that her little guy has plagiocephaly - and Preston is helping his little buddy, Nolan, get through this time. How cute is this? {I discovered Preston because he was the cover model on my first book about Puggles I received just after getting our Puggle, Maya.}

Preston the Puggle

And I found another post while searching the web that I really related to {My First Mommy Fail} because I have often felt like I'm failing little man when it comes to keeping him perfect {I know, no one's perfect}.  The only difference is that my "fail" resides in the fact that I didn't know ANYTHING about Torticollis or plagiocephaly until it was too late. I mean, the only exposure I had was a family aquaintance from my hometown, whose little guy had to wear a helmet because the back of his head was flat - but I was always told/under the impression it was because they kept him on his back too much {knowing more about this now, I guarantee that wasn't the case}. Had I known more about this condition, perhaps I would've noticed something was off sooner. But I didn't...

Then the other day in Target, I saw a mommy with her little guy and he had a helmet. I took this opportunity to ask her some questions and mentioned that our little man may have to get one as well. She was so helpful and reinforced the fact that this process was much worse on her than it seemed to be on him. She said he sleeps well and hasn't had any issues. He was 9 months old and would more than likely wear it for four months. Just talking with another mommy who has felt what I've been feeling made me feel so much better.
Next steps will be our follow up visit with Tim from Trust Orthotics. He will do another scan and then determine if there has been any improvement with little man's development. From there, we'll see...

My Baby Boy: Nineteen Weeks Old

Happy 19 weeks to our little guy!!!

Rockin' my loafers

My "sly" smile

Another Doctor's Visit

Well, it seems the Mango's are becoming regulars at the Boys Town Pediatrics office. Late last week we had little man's four month well check and a follow up on his RSV - and all things were looking good. We were very optimistic because his cough and congestion continued to get better as they told us it would after the fifth day. But things made a turn on Monday night, Cruzer's cough came back in full force {more of a barking sound} and you could tell he was coughing trying to clear out his nose and all the mucus in there. He didn't sleep much Monday night - we woke up to his coughing fits about every hour, seemed to be a bit better Tuesday at day care {though they mentioned to Tessa when she picked him up that he was coughing more than normal} and Tuesday night was a repeat of Monday. We called the nurse on Wednesday morning and she advised us to bring him in because she was worried that he now had Croup {ugh...}.

I left work, picked Cruz up and we headed to Boys Town. After Dr Shidler looked him over, she determined that it wasn't Croup, but instead an ear infection {poor baby}. All the coughing was spreading the virus north and it caused his right ear to become infected.

So we made another visit to the pharmacist to pick up yet another prescription and got him settled. Last night he fortunately slept much better - a couple middle of the night coughing spells but none woke him up until 4am {I was thankful for the extra sleep}. Hopefully this junk leaves him soon so we can get our healthy little boy back. The positive side to this...he is still such a smiley little guy! Even though you know he's uncomfortable, he is still in a good mood and giving us those big, toothless grins.

The doctors say it's better for him to be exposed to this stuff now and build up his immune system, so I would say we are doing a great job of adhering to their wishes. Let's just hope the nice weather will end his seeminly endless cold.

Little Man's Baptism

This past Sunday we had Cruzer's baptism at Bethany Lutheran Church {the same church we were married in}. It was a special day and we celebrated with all of our family. Little man did so well during the service and throughout the actual baptism {even though we had quite the rough night the night before}. After the service, the Pastor came up to the hubby & I and told us that we had the largest following for a baptism that he's ever seen {it goes to show that little man is loved to pieces...and that we have a VERY large extended family!}

After the service, the entire group headed to Upstream for brunch...it was great catching up with everyone and enjoying the mimosas :).  We are very lucky to have such an amazing family and love that we can get everyone together for these types of events. Check out our happy little man and the festivities -

Happy lil' guy - ready for his big day!

And wearing shoes for the first time EVER :)

Had to complete the outfit with this hat....

....except he does look like a little limo driver

With Cruz's godparents - Marc & Tessa

He did so well after the Pastor doused him in Holy Water

Presenting him to the Congregation

With Nanu John & Grammy Jan

Posing with Little Man's sponsors

Happy little family

Papa Ron & Grandma Dianne

Duane & Grandma Carol

Nanu & Grammy with their grandkiddos

Grandpa Florian & his grandkids & great grandkids

My Baby Boy: Eighteen Weeks Old

Happy 18 weeks to our baby boy!!

Date Night

On Sunday night, the hubby and I had a long overdue date night. It worked out so well because Grandma C was in town for a doctor's appointment on Monday and she offered to watch the little guy so we could get a couple hours away on our own. After a long weekend at work...it's just what I needed.

We headed to Zin Room for a quick bite and some much needed vino before we went to see Rock of Ages at the Orpheum downtown. It was a great night and I love hitting up the old theater for new shows that come to town. ROA didn't disappoint - Journey, Guns N Roses, White Snake, Poison....some of my favorite songs from back in the day {kinda made me think of junior high dances...dancing an arm's length apart..you know the drill}.



Rock of Ages - Orpheum Theater



ROA Stage {best seats we could get on short notice}

Great show! Who doesn't love late 80s/early 90s rock music

Stopping to pose for a pic at intermission

This night just reminded me how much I love {and need} time away with my hubby. As much as I adore our little guy, it's so important that I have a chance to spend time with my original "guy."

Oh What A Happy, Happy Birthday

Last weekend, the hubby and I packed up little man for a trip up north to celebrate my niece Sophie's birthday party. We all met up at Valentino's for lunch {why is it on every trip my family has to eat there...it's so dang good!} and then it was off to Gobs & Gobbs of Fun for lots of playing and laughing!

It was a great day spending time with little Soph and the fam - she was so excited about her favorite gift, a Persian kitten! All I can think about is how I can't wait until Cruzer is old enough to partake in all of the fun and games.

The beautiful birthday girl

Posing at Gobs & Gobbs of Fun {pic credit via Sophia}

Auntie Jen and the Cruzer

Singing 'Happy Birthday' to Miss Sophia

DeLaney enjoying a cupcake

The biggest cupcake was reserved for the birthday girl

Josh & Ash hanging with little man

The big reveal: Sophia's present Rosebud Kitty
{Soph picked out the name!}

Papa & Cruzer

Mommy & her fav boy

Happy 5th birthday to Sophia Lynn!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Wishes of green beer flowing from every tap and much fun on this day of the Irish. Love your favorite little leprechaun, Cruz!

Love when I catch a smile - there weren't a lot to choose from this morning.

Rockin' his St. Patty's Day shirt (Cafe Press)
I used the line from Dirty Harry -
"Ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky?
Well do you, punk?"

Our Little Guy: Four Months Old

Little Mango is FOUR months old...and I can hardly believe it! My oh my how the time has flown and I'm loving every little minute with him!

What has Cruz been up to?

• Big News:  this month our little guy has been through the ringer. Midway through, his congestion & cough got worse and when we brought him into the doctor because of what we thought was an ear infection {he kept tugging at his right ear}, they told us he didn't have one {yay!} but he did have Bronchiolitis/RSV {big boo}. The worst part?! Daddy was gone when he got sick and through the majority of his sickness...and even though grandma D was here, it was HARD dealing with a sick baby boy on my own. Sleeping pattern changed, eating habits were different, I had to do breathing treatments {hated doing this when he was squirming and crying}...it was tough. And the worst part...I had to bring him to the emergency room - I was worried late one night when his temp was high and he wasn't reacting well to the breathing treatments. Fortunately it was "just the effects of RSV" according to the doctor.



Breathing treatments with my little man
{learned doing this during a nap was the best bet}



• Eating:  our boy has been eating 5-6oz pretty steadily at this point, except when he was sick and his eating was so sporadic. Smaller amounts and more frequently to make sure he was getting enough hydration. Late into the month during his feedings he's started kicking and whining during his mid-bottle-burps. Now this makes it a bit difficult to get a good burp from our guy, but he's so darn cute when he's doing it that we can't help but laugh!
• Sleeping:  this is where we are so lucky that little man is such a good baby. During this month he started sleeping through the night...yes! he slept 9-10 hours each night. It was an amazing feeling. I hadn't known what a straight 6-7 hours of sleep felt like for three months. Then, when he was sick he fell back into waking up through the night...but it was so understandable. He was majorly congested and had this awful cough. Even if he wasn't fully awake, we would hear every cough or sniffle so it didn't make for a good night's sleep for any of us.  He's just finally getting back into his normal sleep pattern...and we're loving it.

Sleeping baby at auntie Tessa's

• Developments:  we had little man's 4-month check-up today. He is now weighing in at 14.3lbs (34 percentile), 25 1/4 inches tall (62% percentile - those long legs!) and head 16 1/2 inches (39th percentile).  Dr. Shidler checked him over and he's doing well - obviously still getting over RSV still, but everything else looked good. He had to get shots (ouch!) but after some crying and whining for a bit, he was his lovable self right after.  Also, our little guy is loving his toys. Day care and at home play is all about grasping objects. He tries to shove anything he can into his mouth, so as long as he's not chewing on his hands, we're good. He laughed! And the worst part is I wasn't here when it happened - the hubby called me the other day when he was watching little man and I was at work and he was LAUGHING. My baby was laughing. And I thought I was the funny one, but it turns out daddy is able to make little man so happy.  Also, since three months we've been taking him to PT and he's been doing much better. He now has range of motion with his neck and can move it right to left. We are awaiting what's going to happen in terms of his Torticollis. We will find out more in a month...just say your prayers that his heads gets better and more rounded out in the next few weeks.

Loving up on my OBall

• Features: welp, the verdict is in and little man looks like his daddy...A LOT. And I'm good with that, however, I swear I see a bit of Fuchser in him. When I compared him to his cousin Ace's pic from 1 year, he is a spitting image. It's so interesting to me how our babies can pick up different features from each side of the fam. He is also just the most smiley baby I've ever seen - he smiles up a storm all the time. He also has a bit of the baby eczema going on so we've been covering him in Aquaphor to try and combat it. Unfortunately it's due to spit up, etc and it happens to most little ones.



Cutie little 4 month patootie



It's been an amazing four months with Cruzer.  Happy 4 months to my favorite little guy!