Dear Doster- 6 Months

 Dear Doster,

6 months. That’s half of a year!  Ever since I came back to work, it seems like time is racing by me.  The last month has been pure joy.  You had your first Thanksgiving, and I think that our entire family can admit that your presence is what we are most thankful for this year.

A favorite moment for me was during the blessing.  We were all holding hands around the table, and you grabbed Uncle John's hand, as if you knew the routine.  Ah, melted my heart.

I am such a slacker; this is, literally, the only picture I took on Thanksgiving!

Somehow I have this picture too.  I'll have to get with the grandparents and steal their pics!

I’m getting much better about dropping you off at school.  I still cry sometimes (again, not because you are unhappy or because I’m worried—only because I miss you!).   I’m trying to live in the moment more during the time we spend together. 

In other monthly news, we took you to see Santa the weekend after Thanksgiving.  You were a pro.  You stared at Santa and were very chill.  Good job!  You also took a huge poo in Santa’s workshop.  James and I were very impressed with our pit-crew-like speed and even high-fived after we aced our first public diaper dash.

Size:

We just had your 6 month check-up today.  You clocked in at 17 pounds, 3 ounces (44th percentile) and 25 and 3/4 inches (24th percentile). 

You are now in size 3 diapers all the time, and are wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes.

Feeding:

Trying to hold your own!

You are still mostly a bottle guy, but we’ve been doing a little cereal for breakfast over the last month.   We’ve tried cereal and oatmeal and you seem to slightly prefer the latter.  You aren’t a huge eater, but we are practicing.  You LOVE your bottle and you even try to grab it.  You can put it in your mouth by yourself, but you haven’t quiet grasped the concept of the angle.  A for effort!

Towards the end of the month, we moved you to 4 bottles a day or about 1 every 4 hours that you are awake.  Half is formula, have is from me.   Let me give myself a little pat on the back for surviving 6 months of the pumping game!

Sleeping

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!  You are still an incredible sleeper.  When people ask me about your sleeping schedule, I almost hesitate to tell them.  I’m afraid they’ll think I’m lying or bragging.

You do 11 or 12 hours per night and you’ve made huge improvements in napping.  You aren’t the best napper at school, but on the weekends at home you are a pro. 

You bounce around all over your crib at night.  Your dad and I love seeing what positions you will ultimately wake in.  Sometimes your chubby little legs get caught in the crib slats-- it's just about the cutest thing.

Personality

You are still a happy man, even when you aren’t feeling well.  You’ve had a little cold this month, but you’d never know it by your disposition.   Your teacher was bragging about you again last week.  She called you her “baby of the year.”

You usually only cry when you are tired or when I blow your nose with our snot-sucker.  Can’t say I blame you.

Sometimes I think you are trying to be funny.  When you make weird noises it cracks me up.  It’s almost as if you continue doing it just to keep us laughing.  Our little comedian!

Development

You change so quickly that I could never keep up with all that you are doing.  Some quick highlights:

• Rolling all over the place
• “Practice” sitting (with assistance)
• Grabbing EVERYTHING
• Putting anything in your mouth
• Reaching
• Kicking
• Making funny noises with your mouth
• Laughing Laughing Laughing

Thank you for being such a good baby.  You fill up my heart every single day.  I never imagined I would l love being a mom so much.  It is all because you are so wonderful, and pretty easy on me.   I’m so lucky.

Dear Doster- 5 Months

Dear Doster,

This month was absolutely a favorite.  We had so much fun doing “fall activities” with you, and you seemed to have a fun time too.

The transition back to work has been a little rocky for me.  I think I still cried every day that I dropped you off at school last month (not because I’m worried about you, mostly because I miss you!).  You LOVE your school; you smile at the teachers every day!  I just get sad that they get to be with you all day, and I only see you in little spurts.  I definitely appreciate my time with more than I used to, and I just try to soak in every moment.

One of the biggest challenges this month was your first ear infection.  A few days ago, your teacher called me and told me that you were running a fever—I freaked out!  Luckily, we snagged you a doctor’s visit and Dr. Bartlett came to the rescue.  It broke my heart thinking about my little man in any type of pain.  You seem to be feeling better now, though you never even acted upset or fussy in the first place. 

Size:

Big boy!  You weigh in at 16lbs and 4 ounces.  You’re in 3-6 months clothing, and occasionally you wear a 6-9 month outfit. You are still in size 2 diapers during the day, and a size 3 diaper at night.

Feeding:

Mostly this month, you continued on your bottle schedule.  You’re still on a mixture of formula and breast milk.  I started producing a little bit more, but pumping is still a challenge at work.  A few days ago we started on rice cereal.  You weren’t so hip to it your first time, but you slowly growing more accustomed to it. We try a little in the morning and a little at night.

Sleeping:

You are still an amazing sleeper, THANK YOU!!!  You are now very easy to put down at night, and you usually sleep for 11 or 12 hours.  Lately, you’ve been waking up at 5:30 and “talking” to yourself for a few minutes.  You go back to sleep, but it definitely wakes me up.  I only get annoyed when it happens on the weekend.

Your napping has improved as well!  You take about 3 naps during the day, anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. 

Personality:

Happy Happy Happy!  Your teacher at school told me that you are the happiest baby.  She said, “If I had five more Dosters in here, my job would be a lot easier!”

What a big compliment!

You really like looking around and holding your toys.  You love walking around outside, and you absolutely adore being around Brighton.  You smile when you see people that you know, and you are just so content. 

You have been a little fussier now that you are sick—the stuffiness makes it harder for you to sleep.  You are also not a big fan of having your nose cleaned. Sorry Kiddo.

Development:

Checking out those fingers!

You love grabbing, rolling, cooing, laughing, swatting, and holding.  You get a little frustrated if you are on your tummy for too long and can’t figure out how to roll back over.  You love to make funny noises, and laugh when other people do them.  Dr. Painter said that you have excellent head control, and I think so too!  Lately, you’ve been very interested in your fingers. They are adorable, I can’t blame you!

You are such a little charmer and you make me so happy!  Thank you for being such a good baby.  I’m so proud to be your mom. 

Falla' Back, Y'all!

October was such a fun month for our little family and I wanted to take a second to quickly document some of our fall fun.

As I’ve said before, I’m not the most organized gal.  So this blog has to serve as my little digital scrapbook.  There are so many little things that I want to always remember.

Like, Doster’s first Halloween party…

We found out about the Halloween Block Party via one of our favorite stores, KD’s Treehouse.  There was music (a local band for kids, “Lunch Money”), games, food, and fire engines.

Doster seemed to really love his first concert.  He also really enjoyed seeing his reflection in the fire engine.

The next day, we took Doster to the pumpkin patch at Trenholm Road Methodist Church.  Doster was a pretty good sport and seemed to enjoy checking out the pumpkins.  It was such a beautiful day and, as always, Doster loved being outside.

On Halloween, we dressed our little Ninja Turtle for school.  Uncle Thomas dubbed him “Dostertello”, which I thought was adorable.

We trick-or-treated at a few houses near ours, which of course made Doster happy (again, anything outside is a happy time!).

We had visitors as well—my dad, mom, sister and brother came over to enjoy a little Halloween time with Doster.  He was very overwhelmed and over-stimulated at that point.   He fell right to sleep and slept for over 12 hours.  All and all, a pretty good Halloween!

Dear Doster, 4 Months

Dear Doster,

Here we are at four months old.  You are so much fun to be around right now, and I miss you almost every second that we are apart (especially those daytime hours when you are at school).

This month, the transition to daycare/school has been very tough.  Hopefully, a day will soon come when I won’t sob every time I drop you off…

I am constantly astonished at how quickly you grow and how much you change daily!

Size:

At your four month check up, you clocked in at 15lbs 6oz and 23  7/8 inches.  So, it looks like you are a shorty for now!

You are in size 3-6 month clothing and it breaks my heart a little each time I find a new outfit that is too small for you.  You wear a size 2 diaper during the day, and you wear a size 3 “12 hour” diaper at night (and you blow through those on occasion!).

Feeding:

You are rocking about six ounces every three hours during the day.  About 14 ounces of that is breast milk, and the rest is formula.  I’m trying my best to keep up the pumping! The doctor says that we can start you on rice cereal when we are ready, so you can look forward to that in the coming weeks.  You drink a big fat bottle before bed, which is probably why you sleep so well…

Sleeping:

We are so lucky.  I almost hate telling people how well you sleep because I’m afraid they’ll think I’m lying or bragging.  You do a solid 11 hours at night, and sometimes even 12.  Getting you down has become a pretty easy process now that we have our nighttime routine down pat. You are still a little sketchy on the naps, but we’ll take it!

Personality:

Happy Happy Happy!  You love to smile and coo which makes you so much fun to be around.  You laugh and grin at us constantly.

You absolutely LOVE looking at your mobile (another big thank you to The Walls for the borrow!) and you also love chilling on the floor looking at toys.

The only time that you fuss is when you are over-tired (usually after daycare pick up due to the non-napping) or when I try to clean your nose.

My favorite time of the day is when you wake up in the morning.  You are so excited to see me and your dad and greet us with the biggest smile.  It’s as if you are saying: Score!  You guys are both here again! Yes!

Development

I can’t believe how much you are learning.  You are a big “grabber” these days and you love to feel and touch anything. You are a big talker now, and I love to have conversations with you. Dr. Painter says that you have excellent head control, good job buddy!

Your biggest trick is rolling over.  You don’t always do it, but every once in a while tummy time will lead to a roll.  We always make a HUGE deal about it when you do, and you have big smiles.  I can tell you are proud of yourself, and we are proud of you, too!

We are such lucky parents.  We won the lottery when we got you, Doster!

My Tips For Preggos And New Moms

I've had this post sitting in my drafts for a while. I'm not sure why I have been hesitant to share. Maybe it's because I'm hesitant to give advice in any way, shape or form. Maybe it's because I think it is particularly poorly written. Who knows. I've decided to post it after all. I hope it doesn't come across as preachy.


---------------

When I was pregnant my attitude towards advice ran the spectrum.  Sometimes I cherished it and other times it took major restraint to hold back my eye roll.

Now that I have been through the three toughest, yet most rewarding months of my life, I thought that I would dispense a few nuggets of my own. 

1.  The Bunny Sleeper – I LOVE this thing.

I know. I know.  One more thing that takes up a lot of room and costs 50 bucks, right?  Trust me, this sucker is worth every penny!  The first two months of his life, Doster LIVED in this thing.   It’s perfect for babies that have gas, spit up, and are fussy during sleep time.  Though he doesn’t sit in it too much now, he still takes really great naps in it. 

Various sizes of Bunny Seat Love: 

(I love how he is pointing to his tummy)

2. Hospital Flowers

We were so blessed to receive beautiful arrangements from family, coworkers and friends and they truly brightened up our hospital room. But flowers can be really hard to take home from the hospital.  My friend, Joy, had the great suggestion to donate them to hospital patients that perhaps don’t have many visitors.  Great idea! We took home one bouquet and our nurse promised to deliver the rest to some elderly patients on the next floor.

3. Saying No and Saying Yes

I’m a people-pleaser and have a hard time saying “no” to random requests and “yes” when accepting help! 

I was pretty overwhelmed the first few weeks after Doster was born.  We are so blessed to have wonderful family and friends, which meant a lot of people wanted to visit.  In the beginning I had a really tough time denying a request.  When the baby was sleeping, I wanted to sleep, not have a zombie-like visit where I don’t even appreciate our guest because I am so sleepy. I quickly learned that most people prefer honesty and will not be offended if you ask them to wait until you feel more settled.

It was also difficult for me to accept help in the beginning.  I wish I knew why, maybe some sort of guilt-trip in the back of my brain.  But nowadays, the mail man could offer to sweep my house and I’d let him in to do it.  Okay, not really, though I do have a very nice mailman.

  

4. Diapers

I know that every baby bottom is different.  At first I had a hard time letting go of the name-brand stuff, but now that we are in size 2, the Target brand is really rocking for me.  They are half the price of the Pampers!

5. The first few weeks are really hard, but it gets better.

I wish I could go back in time and tell the me of two months ago to calm down.  Call it hormone changes, call it baby blues, call it whatever you like--- I was in a bad place.  Please don’t think I didn’t love being a mom or wasn’t crazy about my baby.  I was just mentally and physically exhausted and I did not see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Once the craziness of the first few weeks wears off and the baby sleeps a little bit more, life is SO much easier.  You learn, you get your routine going, you build confidence and life gets awesome. 

6. You don’t have to wash your pump parts every time, you can put them the fridge!

7. Newborn poops are really loud. Watch out.

8. I think a playmat is a great investment.  Doster LOVES his.

9. Don’t spend a ton of money on crib bedding.  Our pediatrician does NOT recommend a bumper (even though they are super-cute, lame, right?).

10.  Its hard not to splurge on cute baby clothes but you really don’t need that many since you have to do laundry constantly.

Okay, I could babble on and on about the lessons that I’ve learned already, but I think I’ll stop now and leave you with last pearl of Mandi-ness:

11.  The most important words of advice I can give to a first time pregnant woman: Don’t get upset when your plan goes awry.  

My personal birth plan did not include an induction or a cesarean.  I felt defeated when I ultimately had to do both.  In retrospect I wish I could have saved myself the mental stress by “letting go” earlier.  Had I allowed my doctor to perform the cesarean when he first wanted to, I could have saved myself a great deal of unnecessary pain, discomfort and exhaustion (24 hours of it!) and enjoyed my first moments with Doster even more (without blacking out from sleep deprivation so soon!).

When my breastfeeding situation didn’t go exactly as planned, I had to begin supplementing with formula.  I sobbed for weeks, feeling like a failure because my “plan” was so engrained in my mind that I wouldn’t let myself accept reality (more on the breastfeeding journey in a much later post).

It can be hard to free yourself from the mental picture you’ve created.  But if you can find a way to go with the flow and let your plan evolve, you’ll be much happier, much faster.

That’s it for me for now! 

Dear Doster- 3 Months

Dear Doster,

What a wonderful little boy you are!  The past month has been extremely joyful yet very emotional for me since I started working again. We are very lucky that Gran D is able to look after you during my first month back on the job.  It has definitely helped with the transition, and she is an excellent help around the house!

You grow and learn so much each and every day and you have smiles the light up a room.

Size:

I won’t know your weight until your Doctor’s appointment next month, but I am guessing you are between 13 and 14 pounds right now.  You are starting to wear 3-6 month clothing and you are still in size 2 diapers. Incidentally, I’ve discovered that the Target-brand diapers work really well for your little bottom, which is a money-saver!

Feeding:

You love to eat! You typically eat about 26-28 ounces per day, but we’ve up’d your ounces per bottle. I’m pumping at least 13 ounces per day of breast milk, which makes me happy. Pumping is definitely a challenge now that I am back at work but right now we are still finding ways to make it work.

Sleeping:

At nighttime, you are a fantastic sleeper.  Getting you down for the night is not always easy, but once you are there you sleep anywhere from 8-11 hours. You’ve been doing more and more 10 hour stretches and we are very grateful! I have very little willpower for “sleep training”.  It hurts my heart when you cry!  I think our night time bath routine really helps you settle down.

You are a very inconsistent napper.  You fight fight fight sleep during the day, and sleep with one eye open (literally, sometimes!).

Personality:

What a happy baby! When you are not overly-tired you are bubbly and smiley.  You coo and “talk” and have the biggest grin.   You love it when your Daddy and I make funny noises or sing to you.

You are happy when you are able to spread out on your playmat or blanket and look around and take in your surroundings.  You absolutely love your toys, especially the mobile. 

You rarely fuss when I change your diapers or clothes. In fact, you are usually very smiley during those times.

Development:

You are not a big fan of tummy time, but you are getting used to it more and more.  You are great at grabbing your toys and occasionally hold on for a longer period of time.

You are getting so good at holding up your head now! You look so cute when you sit in 

someone’s lap and “sit up” like a big boy.

You are starting to learn how to stick your tongue out at us, which is adorable:

All in all, you are one good baby, and exceptionally cute I might add.  We are so lucky to have you and we promise to try to be the best parents possible.  I’m so excited to watch you grow and am trying to enjoy every little step along the way.

Puddin’ Tane: How Doster Got His Name

Creating Doster’s name was one of the most important jobs that we had as parents-to-be.  

It’s a big decision and your child has that name forever— what an incredible responsibility!

I always knew that I would want a name that was a little different.   There are so many options and paths to go: trendy, hipster, nontraditional, family names, vintage names…It actually didn’t take us long to come up with our “boy name”.  In fact, it was a really easy 
choice.

Doster is James’ mother’s maiden name.  James was named after his Grandfather, (Commander) James Doster who was one of the most influential people in his life. “Granddaddy Bo” was one of the happiest, loving, caring people that I have ever met.  I am so thankful that I was able to spend time with him while James and I were dating.  He and James are so much alike and it helped me fall even more in love with the Gilbert family. 

James and Granddaddy Bo showing off their school spirit socks!

So as you can see, Doster was an easy choice for the first name.  Plus, it sounds cool, right?  For those of you wondering about the pronunciation – just think of Foster but with a D ;)


 I’ve always really liked the name Patrick.  It is my dad’s name and my brother’s name, and I just love the way it sounds.  Maybe because it has the word “trick” in it…  Go ahead, say it aloud.  It’s fun to say, right?

I am so lucky to have such a close relationship with my Dad.  He is one of my favorite people in the world and I Do.Not.Know.What. I’d.Do. Without.Him.

My Daddy

Getting used to life with my first little brother, Patrick.

We are so lucky that we have such influential people in our lives that we can honor by naming our son.  AND we really love the name.  I can’t remember exactly when we decided on the name… probably way before I even became pregnant.

On a nickname note: for some reason, we’ve started affectionately referring to him as Puddin’ Cake, Puddin’ or Big and Awesome.

Has anyone else ever heard that old saying:
What your name?Pudding Tane. Ask me again and I’ll tell you the same!

Just wondering.

Anyway……


I don’t know what we would have done had Doster been a girl.  We could not agree on a girl name and it was stressing me out a little towards the end (for new readers: we did not know the sex of our baby).  Luckily it all worked out and we had a boy so there was no last-minute deliberation necessary.  

I’ll never forget the first words James said to me as Doster was presented to us after the c-section:

“He’s here!  Doster’s here!”

And now a recent pic, just for fun:

Okay, one more!

My Guy - 2 Months!

My little man is two months old today.  It’s hard to believe – but not in the oh-my-time–is-going-by- so-quickly kind of way.  To me, it seems like I’ve had him for a year already.  Is that weird?  I guess that’s what house arrest will do to you.

The last few weeks have been the BEST yet.  We’ve started going on more adventures including walks, errands and we even took him to a restaurant.

First Family Walk-- A Short One Due To The Heat!

Our First Restaurant Trip As A Family-- A Quick Place During Non-Peak Hours (Just In Case!)

His sleep improvements have been awesome and have made me feel more balanced and normal again.  We still have some work ahead of us on achieving an earlier bedtime but for now our schedule works and that is okay with me!

Our biggest venture the past month was definitely visiting Palmetto GBA and WLTX (workplaces of James and myself).  It made me realize how much I actually miss the people that I work with, which is a great is blessing in and of itself I suppose.

I plan to get out even more over the next coming weeks now that I have a little more confidence.  I head back to work around Labor Day and I want to make the most of these last few weeks at home. 

And now for the monthly details:

Size:

We won’t have his official weight until our appointment next week, but I’m guessing 13ish pounds.  He weighed almost 11 a few weeks ago so I am excited to see!  He is wearing 0-3 month clothing and occasionally wears a 3-6 month outfit.  As for diapers, we are officially a size 2 kid!

Feeding:

Doster continues to be very serious about his food.  He eats about 26-28 ounces per day, sometimes a little more.  About 8-12 ounces a day come from me, depending on how much I can pump.  I’m obviously still having supply issues but I am at peace with our feeding situation now.  If I can give him 2 or 3 “Mommy Bottles” per day, I will keep pumping as long as I can!

Sleeping:

We’ve seen SO much sleep improvement in the last month. He typically sleeps at least 6 hours now, and last night he actually slept 7 and a half! His sleepy parents are very grateful!

The problem I am facing is the TIME that we actually start the long stretch.  He usually goes down around 12:30 and wakes up at 7:30 or 8.  After a morning bottle, he’ll sleep another 2 hours.  I’d love to push the bedtime back earlier and am trying very hard to do so.  This week, my goal is to shorten the morning nap in hopes that this helps.

Doster does not like to nap during the day and fights sleep with all his might! 

We’ve started a nighttime routine that includes a bath, and this baby LOVES the water.  Baths seem to make him pretty happy and calm so it looks like we’ll have a clean baby on our hands if nothing else.

Personality:

I love this guy.  He is very happy when he is playing on his mat, looking at his toys or being held by anyone.

He is starting to have more non-gas-related smiles which are heartwarming.

Doster loves to be around people and is not so keen on being by himself; this is perfectly fine except during naptime when he cries if I leave the room.  He’s a social guy, what can I say?

Development:

Doster’s skills include: eating, pooping, peeing, crying, spitting, looking around, smiling and passing gas.  Our new skills for this month are: turning over from his tummy, looking at his mobile (thanks Janine for letting us borrow!), holding up his head constantly, grabbing our faces, and chillin’ on his play mat.   He is not such a fan of tummy time, but we try to do a few minutes of it daily anyway. 

Our Little Photo Shoot:

Our Little Man - 1 Month!

Wow. It’s been a month already.

My lack of blog updating is due to being completely over-whelmed, sleep-deprived and a little obsessed with Doster.

Being a mom is, without a doubt, the toughest job I’ve ever had.  Doster is COMPLETELY worth all of the hard work and it seems like life gets a bit more manageable each week.

James and I are working on a detailed birth story, so stay tuned for that.  Here is the story in short to tide you over:  Lots of fluid caused me not to dilate.  Went for induction.   Labored a long time.  Water breaking was a huge ordeal. Finally dilated fully.  Pushed over an hour but baby was stuck behind a bone.  C-section.  24 Hours after we started,  it’s a boy!  Beautiful baby.  Welcome Doster! Sleepy parents.  Can I eat now?

Truthfully, it took me about 2 weeks to get over that crazy delivery.  I would think about it and just cry and cry.  Now I feel like myself a little bit more and am doing pretty well. I admit, I'm still a bit hormonal and overly sensitive.  Hopefully I will be back to normal eventually...

Now for the good stuff, the Doster stuff!

Size:

A few days ago he weighed in at 9lbs!  He’s probably gained a few ounces since then.  He was 20.5 inches when born.  The newborn stuff is a little small these days so we are mostly wearing the 0-3 month outfits.

Feeding:

This boy likes to eat, usually every 2-4 hours!  He usually takes about 3 ounces-- about half from mom and half from formula. More on the breastfeeding situation in a future post.  It’s still a little bit of a sensitive subject for me. 

Sleeping:

Umm.  No set schedule yet.  Once he slept for over 4 hours.  It was nice!  Normally 3 hours is what we get on a good night.  He seems to be improving a little, and I hope to get more sleep out of him and for myself in the coming weeks. 

Right now he sleeps in his bunny sleeper a lot and in his crib a good bit too.  I’m trying to transition to the crib more, but it is tough because the other is so easy (mostly because it can be by our bed, easy access)!

Doster's Bunny Sleeper

Babyn' it up in his crib!

Personality:

He’s the sweetest little charmer!  He is usually in a great mood and is occasionally fussy due to a little gas.  He likes having his hands free and near his face.

He loves being held and hanging around people.  He also really seems to like Brighton (who is still pretty curious and a little suspicious about the new addition).

Development:

Doster’s skills include: eating, pooping, peeing, crying, spitting, looking around, sometimes smiling and passing gas.  He can follow voices and faces and sometimes we think he even smiles on purpose. He likes lying on his blanket for tummy time and back time—he holds his head up a little and can move it around a tiny bit.  He likes looking at his black and white toys and seems to be growing more attentive.  His doctor said he is right on track and is very alert! 

Our first attempt at tummy time...

It’s hard to believe how quickly and slowly the days go by.   My heart goes out to stay at home moms --this ish is crazy-difficult!  James is a great, hands-on dad and I have I have unbelievable help from my mom and Dori, and I am still exhausted.  Despite that, I can’t believe how much I love this guy.  I never even realized how much my own parents loved me until I had Doster.  This new kind of love is amazing and overwhelmingly beautiful.  I am so happy and lucky!