Dear Vanilla Oreos, Pop Tarts, and Candy,

When I found out Bo had a milk soy protein intolerance (MSPI), I was super bummed.  Not only for the poor little guy and how awful it made him feel, but because I was nursing and this meant I had to give up all dairy, soy, including all hidden sources of dairy and soy.  (Don't get me started on all the hidden sources; it's in everything.)

But one of the things I was pumped about was hearing that moms who eat this way get super skinny.  Score!  There would be an upside to my no pizza/bread/ice cream eating tragedy.  I did what I do best when I found out of the MSPI...I mercilessly researched what foods had the offending ingredients and what did not.

I reasoned I could indulge in some products I hadn't binged on since college since I was, after all, giving up said pizza/bread/ice cream.  What I didn't know was that you would become a food group all your own.

 I have a love hate relationship with you.  It's because of you that I am able to withstand this bland eating experience.  However, it's also because of you that I still carry 5 pounds of baby weight around (not to mention the 15 I needed to lose before I ever got pregnant).

Thanks for spicing up my otherwise bland diet, but I hope our relationship ends soon and you take about 20 pounds with you when you go...

Dear Jake, Be gone...

I am so glad to see you go.  Your Risky Business entry was unbearable.  Your facial expressions made me cringe.  Your exit is overdue.

Dear Bo, You're five months old today!

5 months old!
Here's what you're up to:

• You love to play with your hands. It is so cute. Your chubby hands are one of my (many) favorite things about you!
• I think you're cutting a tooth so you are always drooling and chewing on said hands.

• When you're in your bouncy or your swing, you keep your arms straight and kick your legs like a mad man. You look like a river dancer!
• You smile and laugh so easily. You especially like to laugh and squeal at Daddy.
• You coo a lot of the time...especially in the mornings. You usually wake up happy and talking.
• We call you Pooka (Meka started it), and it makes you laugh!
• We had our first non-family dinner guests since you were born. You were a good boy. You met Baby Claire for the first time.

• You wear 3-6 months clothes and size 2 diapers.
• You have gone back to spastic nursing, especially the last feeding of the day. I quit fighting you and just give you a bottle for that last feeding now.
• You love your baths, but you HATE when we put your pajamas on after bath time. You throw a fit and really do need a good swat on the leg for it.
• You take 6 ounces in your bottle and are on a 3-3.5 hour schedule.
• Your typical day generally looks like this: wake at 7:30am, eat at 8:00, nap at 9:30 (for 2 hours), eat at 11 or 11:30, nap at 12:30pm (for 2 hours), eat at 2:30, nap at 4 (for 1 hour), eat at 5:30 or 6pm, play/take a walk.
• Our night time routine with you is generally: 7:30 watch Praise Baby DVD to wind down, 8 bath, 8:15 or 8:30 eat/burp, swaddle, pray, sing Jesus Loves Me and Jesus Loves the Little Children, then rock to sleep.
• You still are a challenge to put to sleep. You won't settle without being swaddled, but you fight it before you'll go to sleep. You normally are out within 5 minutes of the start of the struggle though.

• Your nights have improved drastically. You are usually up once to eat and maybe one other time if you break your swaddle. One weekend this month you were up every 1.5-2 hours! I don't know what was up, but something was. Fortunately, it didn't last longer than 2 nights. Overall, the nights are just so much better.
  
• You are going to the bathroom by yourself now! No medicine to help you! This is such an answer to prayer!
  
• You love TV. We put on a Praise Baby DVD every night for you to wind down to, and you will watch the whole thing (it's a half hour long). Mimi and Pop got you a farm animal DVD that you kick and squeal about, too. When I get ready for work in the mornings, I put you in your bouncer on our bed and turn on Baby Mozart or a cartoon and you're good to go until I'm ready.

• You reach to play with toys on your floor gym and bounce a bout and reach for book pages when we read to you. You roll over from front to back.

This has been a really good month. So many things fell into place this month. You got on a schedule that is working for you, your bathroom troubles resolved, your nights really improved...all such blessings! You are interacting so much with us now; I can tell that each month will just get more and more fun!

Look how you've grown:
We love you, Pooka!

Dear Bo, One day you can go on a boys' weekend...

...but this weekend you stayed with the girls!

Daddy went fishing with his cousins, and Mimi came to visit so we could go to Beth Moore's So Long Insecurity Simulcast. Pop was missing his boy so he came on Friday to see you. You were a good boy at dinner and went down easily that night. However, the middle of the night was not your strongest night by far. I think you just wanted to snuggle with Mimi...

You played with Meka on Saturday while we went to Beth Moore (which was great); then we went shopping for several hours. You had such a good day! And you slept wonderfully that night, too.

Sunday was a bit of a rough day for you (3 meltdowns), but that's okay. Your good days outnumber your bad days by far now. I think you're teething, and it's just no fun.

You are such fun right now...laughing, smiling, and "talking" all the time. You love to play with your hands, and it's so cute! I only managed to get one picture of the weekend...you watching cartoons on Daddy's side of the bed Sunday morning. You love TV and zone out when it's on; I don't like it one bit (reminds me of your daddy)!

Dear Spring, I'm so glad you are here...

Now I can take walks with my two favorite guys...

Dear Bo, Happy First Easter...

I have always loved sweet Easter outfits. I know you are a boy and that it's popular to dress baby boys as "little men", but this year...I wanted you to look like a sweet baby boy. And so...my sweet baby boy was dressed in a sweet baby blue outfit with sweet white Sunday shoes. And I couldn't have been more pleased (don't listen to your father, who said you looked like a girl; you were adorable)!
It takes a lot of pictures to get a good one!
I also bought a sweet baby blue Easter basket which the Easter Bunny filled with a floatie for our summer trips, a Praise Baby DVD, and a Whoozit Activity Spiral.
Mimi and Pop joined us for your first Easter. They love you so much.
You gave Momma and Daddy the best Easter present...you slept all night! But Momma couldn't even enjoy it; I was too busy making sure you were still breathing!
Happy first Easter, sweet baby boy.

Dear Mammaw, Happy 11th Anniversary...

You've now been in Heaven for eleven years (yesterday). Wasn't I just writing about 10 years not too long ago? You got Grandaddy back this year. Lucky you (hee, hee). Is he any less ornery up there??

I have to believe you gave this one sweet kisses before he was delivered to me:
I have an afghan I received as a baby gift; I must confess that I pretend you made it.

Mother has told me stories of how much time she spent with you when Lori and Derek were babies; I totally understand why now. Babies are a lot of work! I think you are amazing for raising four and grandmothering thirteen!

We bounce on the edge of the bed with Bo to calm him like you did with Lori when she was a baby. We call it "bouncy bed". Bo loves it, and I love it that I use a "trick" passed down from you...

For Christmas I got all of the nieces that are in school stationery, and we're exchanging letters. It reminds me of when you and I exchanged letters when I was younger (all of the way through college!). I get such a kick out of their letters. It pleases me that I'm sharing with them something you shared with me...

I still miss you. We all do.

Dear Reader, Free to a good home...

Likes: Milk, Bouncing, The Middle of the Night Hours
Dislikes: Sleeping between the hours of 2-4am, Tummy Aches

Guess I'll sleep when I'm dead,

Dear Reader, It's good to laugh...

I was a little down all night and this morning because the latest chapter in "The Ups and Downs of Nursing Bo" is mostly a downer.

But then I read this post...and it made me laugh...and completely turned my day around...