Sweet Gideon is three months old! I cannot believe he's three months old already. Here are a few quick updates on our precious little guy-
Sizes? Size 2 diapers, size 3 month clothes. His size 0-3 month clothes still fit, but they're getting snug.
Eating? Still exclusively nursing between 5 and 6 times a day when Mommy is home. When Mommy is at work he takes between 4 to 5 oz of expressed milk per feeding. Our favorite bottles are Dr. Brown's, but we realized this week he'll take a Tommee Tippee bottle with no problems. The Tommee Tippee bottles have fewer parts, so they're much easier to clean.
Sleeping? In general, he goes to bed between 6:30-7:30 and will sleep until around 3, then he goes back to sleep until Mommy wakes him up again (on days I work) so he can eat again before I leave. He typically takes a morning nap and an afternoon nap, but he is a pro at fighting naptime. I hope this isn't setting the stage for the future, or we will have one grouchy toddler!
Childcare? With my return to work, we have started to rely on childcare a few days a week. On Mondays and Tuesdays he goes to "school" at a nearby Baptist church. On Sundays we've started putting him in the nursery so that I can enjoy the worship service without distraction. Unfortunately, increased childcare led to his first head cold.
Developmental milestones? This month we've noticed
-rolling from back to side to back again
-watching hands for spans of time
-bringing fists to mouth to suck on fingers (This one is pretty funny. He sometimes takes a few tries to get his fist into his mouth, so we'll see fist to forehead, fist to eye, fist to nose, then fist to mouth.)
-Rubbing eyes when he gets sleepy
-Laughing!
-Increased "vocabulary" of coos. I'm hearing a greater variety of vowel sounds, and he attempts to have conversations with us. He also likes to talk to his mobile, his toys, and his puppy sisters.
Future predictions? Right now he favors his left hand, so we're guessing he will be left handed.
Like mommy? Your big smile
Like daddy? Your long eyelashes and the look you get when you're thinking really hard about something.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Tornados and Trampolines
I hate severe weather. HATE. My biggest fear in the world is death by tornado. As a southern girl, I've spent my fair share of time huddled in a basement listening to a weather radio, and just the sound of static-laden weather updates and the emergency alert on the radio will make me hypertensive. My fear started before the storms on April 27th- an F5 tornado "jumped" my house as a middle schooler, and then I had another frightening experience as a high-school freshman while being driven home through straight-line winds. Tornado sirens increase my prayer life and my blood pressure.
On Wednesday morning the sirens woke us up. We live on the border of two counties, so Keith went to check the tv to see where the storms were before we got Gideon out of bed. Since the storms were close to us, we all relocated to the hall bathroom- dogs included. Nelli (our labrador) associates that bathroom with getting a bath, so she reluctantly jumped inside the tub. Lucy (our stray who adopted us) followed suit. Sweet southern girls, they know what to do during tornado warnings. I held Gideon close and had a thick blanket ready to cover him, just in case. The threat passed quickly and we went about our day as usual. Unfortunately, the warning really threw off Gideon's schedule- we had a very fussy little guy yesterday.
I went grocery shopping in the afternoon, and then decided to feed Gideon before unloading the car since we were very close to dinner time. I let the dogs out and was taking care of Gideon when I heard a loud sound outside- my first thought was that something had blown off of our house. Almost immediately, both dogs were scratching at the back door to be let in. I opened the door to investigate, and was shocked to discover the source- our neighbor's trampoline had been picked up by the wind and thrown over our privacy fence into our backyard. I figured the neighbors might come knocking to see if we'd found a stray trampoline, so I went to put the dogs in their crates. Easier said than done. Both dogs were hiding and refused to come out, even for treats.
I put Gideon in his swing and went to unload groceries from my car, and heard another funny noise. Our sweet Lucy was so terrified by the flying trampoline that she'd followed me into the garage and hidden under the Journey. Once I opened the back hatch to get groceries out, she jumped in. As I went to get her, she jumped over the back seats and into the "middle back." I opened the "middle back" doors, and she jumped into the front seat. This continued for several minutes- a terrified Lucy avoiding me by jumping around our car. I think I would've been upset with her had I not been laughing so hard. Poor scared puppy! I finally got her calm enough to where I could catch her, and I carried her inside to her crate.
I got Gideon in bed and tried to take care of my puppies. Nelli would bark every time she'd notice the trampoline outside, and Lucy was so skittish that she would go running towards the garage any time she heard a noise. They got better as the night went on, but even today they're growling/barking at the upside-down trampoline in the yard.
The bright side of this experience is we have a great reason to meet and fellowship with our neighbors. You can't just toss a trampoline back over a fence.
Watch out for flying trampolines, everyone!
On Wednesday morning the sirens woke us up. We live on the border of two counties, so Keith went to check the tv to see where the storms were before we got Gideon out of bed. Since the storms were close to us, we all relocated to the hall bathroom- dogs included. Nelli (our labrador) associates that bathroom with getting a bath, so she reluctantly jumped inside the tub. Lucy (our stray who adopted us) followed suit. Sweet southern girls, they know what to do during tornado warnings. I held Gideon close and had a thick blanket ready to cover him, just in case. The threat passed quickly and we went about our day as usual. Unfortunately, the warning really threw off Gideon's schedule- we had a very fussy little guy yesterday.
I went grocery shopping in the afternoon, and then decided to feed Gideon before unloading the car since we were very close to dinner time. I let the dogs out and was taking care of Gideon when I heard a loud sound outside- my first thought was that something had blown off of our house. Almost immediately, both dogs were scratching at the back door to be let in. I opened the door to investigate, and was shocked to discover the source- our neighbor's trampoline had been picked up by the wind and thrown over our privacy fence into our backyard. I figured the neighbors might come knocking to see if we'd found a stray trampoline, so I went to put the dogs in their crates. Easier said than done. Both dogs were hiding and refused to come out, even for treats.
I put Gideon in his swing and went to unload groceries from my car, and heard another funny noise. Our sweet Lucy was so terrified by the flying trampoline that she'd followed me into the garage and hidden under the Journey. Once I opened the back hatch to get groceries out, she jumped in. As I went to get her, she jumped over the back seats and into the "middle back." I opened the "middle back" doors, and she jumped into the front seat. This continued for several minutes- a terrified Lucy avoiding me by jumping around our car. I think I would've been upset with her had I not been laughing so hard. Poor scared puppy! I finally got her calm enough to where I could catch her, and I carried her inside to her crate.
I got Gideon in bed and tried to take care of my puppies. Nelli would bark every time she'd notice the trampoline outside, and Lucy was so skittish that she would go running towards the garage any time she heard a noise. They got better as the night went on, but even today they're growling/barking at the upside-down trampoline in the yard.
The bright side of this experience is we have a great reason to meet and fellowship with our neighbors. You can't just toss a trampoline back over a fence.
Watch out for flying trampolines, everyone!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
2 Months Old!
Our precious Gideon is two months old! What a big boy we have!
Firsts this month?
-first vaccinations at the Dr's office
-first dose of acetaminophen
-first time spending the night away from home
-first time meeting great-grandma Gallahair
Developmental milestones?
-much improved head control
-regular "talking"in coos and gurgles
-starting to support his weight on his feet while being held upright
-reacting to sounds in another room by turning head
-tracking objects in his field of vision by moving his eyes
-spontaneous smiling
-daily attempts at laughing- right now no sound comes out. It's the most adorable thing I've ever seen.
Sizes?
-size 2 diapers
-size 0-3 month clothes
Eating?
-Nursing every 3-4 hours during the day, but longer stretches at night. He's consistently dropped either his 10pm or 2am feeding, depending on when he does his long sleep stretch. Taking 4 oz of expressed milk at feedings if mommy isn't home.
Sleeping?
-Right now he generally takes a morning nap, an early afternoon nap, and a late afternoon nap. Bedtime is between 6:30 and 7:30, and he'll usually sleep until about 1 or 2, eat, and then sleep for another 4 hours or so.
Favorite things?
-Your swing
-Your playmat that has dangling toys that play music if you hit them
-Watching ceiling fans
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Vaccines and Vacays
This was another huge week of firsts for our little guy!
We started out our long weekend with a trip to the pediatrician for his "two month" check up. Our pediatrician opts to do this appointment at 6 weeks to get the first round of vaccines on board before mommy goes back to work. Since the CDC says the vaccines are safe and effective at 6 weeks, mommy is okay with it. This was mommy's first time "flying solo" with Gideon at an office visit, and he did such a great job! Our big boy is now 10 lb 12 oz and 23 inches long, making him 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for length. I was very pleased with the nurse who administered all of Gideon's immunizations- she went very fast and laid all of her equipment to the side so that I could pick him up as soon as she was done. There were just a few tears from the initial shock of the vaccines (which was still hard for mommy), but then he stopped crying as soon as I picked him up. I gave him some prophylactic acetaminophen before the appointment to help with soreness and fever, and we continued the APAP around the clock for 48 hours. This mommy LOVES infant acetaminophen; I had a different baby once it kicked in.
Speaking of acetaminophen, a brief pharmacist rant...
There used to be two types of children's acetaminophen liquids, infant drops (80 mg/ 0.8 mL) and children's suspension (160 mg/5 mL). With the old infant drops, two droppersful (1.6 mL) would equal the same acetaminophen dose as one teaspoonful (5 mL) of children's suspension. The problem with two concentrations on the shelf is the risk of accidental overdose for children. Say a mommy calls her pediatrician to get an acetaminophen dose for her child and is told to give one teaspoonful (5 mL). Mommy goes home, grabs infant drops, and measures out one teaspoonful- accidentally giving her child 500 mg of acetaminophen (the equivalent of an adult extra-strength Tylenol!), instead of the intended 160 mg. Children can't metabolize acetaminophen as well as adults, so this is a very dangerous problem. To combat this, the manufacturers discontinued the infant drops and began marketing infant acetaminophen concentrated the same as children's acetaminophen, 160 mg/5 mL. This is great news- standardized concentrations across the board. However, this pharmacist has a problem with the new packaging- there is a complete lack of dosing recommendations on the bottle for a child under 2 years old.
Now this mommy knows how to dose acetaminophen, but most mommies don't. What concerns me is a mom who has multiple children who thinks "well with my older child I just gave a full dropper," and doses her new baby the same way- giving her child a full dropper of the new infant suspension- the appropriate dose of acetaminophen for a 30+ pound child. See the problem?
So, a brief pharmacy PSA- always ask your pharmacist the appropriate dose of acetaminophen for your child, based on your child's weight. If you have any of the old infant drops in your medicine cabinet, throw them away! (They're probably close to expired, anyway).
Rant over, thanks for listening :)
After our MD visit, we took a weekend trip to Demopolis to visit with some sweet friends and to give the men a chance to go hunting. Our friends in Demopolis have many animals mounted on their walls, and Gideon LOVED looking at their fish. (Someone is going to have a great time in Ft. Myers in a few years!) Gideon also did great sleeping in his pack-n-play, and even slept from 11 to 6 one night! He handled the long car rides like a champ as well. We're blessed to have such a good car seat sleeper.
Before church on Sunday we took a family photo- check out my handsome men!
We're looking forward to many more adventures with our little guy!
We started out our long weekend with a trip to the pediatrician for his "two month" check up. Our pediatrician opts to do this appointment at 6 weeks to get the first round of vaccines on board before mommy goes back to work. Since the CDC says the vaccines are safe and effective at 6 weeks, mommy is okay with it. This was mommy's first time "flying solo" with Gideon at an office visit, and he did such a great job! Our big boy is now 10 lb 12 oz and 23 inches long, making him 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for length. I was very pleased with the nurse who administered all of Gideon's immunizations- she went very fast and laid all of her equipment to the side so that I could pick him up as soon as she was done. There were just a few tears from the initial shock of the vaccines (which was still hard for mommy), but then he stopped crying as soon as I picked him up. I gave him some prophylactic acetaminophen before the appointment to help with soreness and fever, and we continued the APAP around the clock for 48 hours. This mommy LOVES infant acetaminophen; I had a different baby once it kicked in.
Speaking of acetaminophen, a brief pharmacist rant...
There used to be two types of children's acetaminophen liquids, infant drops (80 mg/ 0.8 mL) and children's suspension (160 mg/5 mL). With the old infant drops, two droppersful (1.6 mL) would equal the same acetaminophen dose as one teaspoonful (5 mL) of children's suspension. The problem with two concentrations on the shelf is the risk of accidental overdose for children. Say a mommy calls her pediatrician to get an acetaminophen dose for her child and is told to give one teaspoonful (5 mL). Mommy goes home, grabs infant drops, and measures out one teaspoonful- accidentally giving her child 500 mg of acetaminophen (the equivalent of an adult extra-strength Tylenol!), instead of the intended 160 mg. Children can't metabolize acetaminophen as well as adults, so this is a very dangerous problem. To combat this, the manufacturers discontinued the infant drops and began marketing infant acetaminophen concentrated the same as children's acetaminophen, 160 mg/5 mL. This is great news- standardized concentrations across the board. However, this pharmacist has a problem with the new packaging- there is a complete lack of dosing recommendations on the bottle for a child under 2 years old.
Now this mommy knows how to dose acetaminophen, but most mommies don't. What concerns me is a mom who has multiple children who thinks "well with my older child I just gave a full dropper," and doses her new baby the same way- giving her child a full dropper of the new infant suspension- the appropriate dose of acetaminophen for a 30+ pound child. See the problem?
So, a brief pharmacy PSA- always ask your pharmacist the appropriate dose of acetaminophen for your child, based on your child's weight. If you have any of the old infant drops in your medicine cabinet, throw them away! (They're probably close to expired, anyway).
Rant over, thanks for listening :)
After our MD visit, we took a weekend trip to Demopolis to visit with some sweet friends and to give the men a chance to go hunting. Our friends in Demopolis have many animals mounted on their walls, and Gideon LOVED looking at their fish. (Someone is going to have a great time in Ft. Myers in a few years!) Gideon also did great sleeping in his pack-n-play, and even slept from 11 to 6 one night! He handled the long car rides like a champ as well. We're blessed to have such a good car seat sleeper.
Before church on Sunday we took a family photo- check out my handsome men!
We're looking forward to many more adventures with our little guy!
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
2012 Year In Review
2012 was a pretty amazing year for the Gallahair family! Here are a few highlights from our whirlwind year.
January
-We visited with some sweet friends in Demopolis, as we do every year.
February
-We assisted with Glo weekend at church (a Disciple Now weekend). I led the Jr High girls while Keith led the youth guys.
March
-I celebrated my birthday week
-Keith led a group of 10th grade guys at a Disciple Now weekend in Peachtree City, GA
-Keith served as an usher in a fraternity brother's wedding, while I spent the weekend wondering why I wasn't feeling well.
April
-We're having a baby! We decide to keep the news a secret until I graduate pharmacy school.
-We find out baby is coming sooner than we thought, so we travel to tell the family early.
-Keith got accepted to seminary at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, pursuing a Master of Arts in Church Ministries.
May
-After 8 long years of college, I achieve my goal and officially become Bethany G, Pharm.D. (Why yes, you can call me "Doctor.")
-I travelled to Orlando to train for my new role at work.
-My little sister graduated high school.
June
-Keith is hired at The Brook.
-I was a bridesmaid (brides-matron?) in my college roommate's wedding. She picked a forgiving dress to accommodate my growing belly.
July
-We purchase a new vehicle to transport our growing family. It's not a minivan.
-I pass the NAPLEX and MPJE and appear before the Alabama Board of Pharmacy to petition for licensure.
-I begin working as a pharmacist
-We officially find out that we're having a boy.
August
-We started house shopping and put an offer on our first home. After some back-and-forth with the owners, we decided to walk away from house #1. We placed an offer on another house, which is accepted.
-Keith went on a work retreat and got adopted by a stray puppy who is obviously malnourished and recovering from injuries. We named her Lucy and welcomed her into our family.
September
-We closed on our first house.
October
-I got in a car wreck on the way home from work (not my fault) and spent the night in Labor and Delivery for monitoring. Gideon stayed put.
November
-Our lives changed forever after a traumatic morning, and we are a family of three.
-We came home from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day, and enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with family.
-Keith celebrated his birthday.
December
-We took Gideon to church for the first time and celebrated Christmas at home with family.
We're looking forward to this coming year and seeing what God has in store for us!
January
-We visited with some sweet friends in Demopolis, as we do every year.
February
-We assisted with Glo weekend at church (a Disciple Now weekend). I led the Jr High girls while Keith led the youth guys.
March
-I celebrated my birthday week
-Keith led a group of 10th grade guys at a Disciple Now weekend in Peachtree City, GA
-Keith served as an usher in a fraternity brother's wedding, while I spent the weekend wondering why I wasn't feeling well.
April
-We're having a baby! We decide to keep the news a secret until I graduate pharmacy school.
-We find out baby is coming sooner than we thought, so we travel to tell the family early.
-Keith got accepted to seminary at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, pursuing a Master of Arts in Church Ministries.
May
-After 8 long years of college, I achieve my goal and officially become Bethany G, Pharm.D. (Why yes, you can call me "Doctor.")
-My little sister graduated high school.
June
-Keith is hired at The Brook.
-I was a bridesmaid (brides-matron?) in my college roommate's wedding. She picked a forgiving dress to accommodate my growing belly.
-We purchase a new vehicle to transport our growing family. It's not a minivan.
-I pass the NAPLEX and MPJE and appear before the Alabama Board of Pharmacy to petition for licensure.
-I begin working as a pharmacist
-We officially find out that we're having a boy.
August
-We started house shopping and put an offer on our first home. After some back-and-forth with the owners, we decided to walk away from house #1. We placed an offer on another house, which is accepted.
-Keith went on a work retreat and got adopted by a stray puppy who is obviously malnourished and recovering from injuries. We named her Lucy and welcomed her into our family.
-We closed on our first house.
-I got in a car wreck on the way home from work (not my fault) and spent the night in Labor and Delivery for monitoring. Gideon stayed put.
November
-Our lives changed forever after a traumatic morning, and we are a family of three.
-Keith celebrated his birthday.
December
-We took Gideon to church for the first time and celebrated Christmas at home with family.
We're looking forward to this coming year and seeing what God has in store for us!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
First Christmas
In some ways, I almost feel like I missed Christmas this year. I spent almost all of the holiday season confined to my house due to C-section recovery driving restrictions and fear of exposing G to germs. The extreme sleep deprivation didn't help me get into the Christmas spirit, either. However, we did manage to have a lovely Christmas at home this year. Some notable events included...
-Mom going to the Ladies Christmas Brunch at church. This was my second time away from G (the first time was a short trip to Wal-Mart), and it was wonderful. It was so nice to fellowship with the ladies at church, eat some amazing food, and not be tethered to a feeding schedule for a morning. I was surprised by the number of people who expected me to have little man with me, though. He was three weeks old at the time; three week olds have no business in public, especially during this year's terrible flu season. (Think I'm overreacting? You wouldn't if you worked in retail pharmacy :) )
-Taking a Christmas light tour of Madison. To get me out of the house one day, my sweet husband loaded us in the car, took me through the drive thru at Starbucks for a Holiday beverage, and then drove me around town to look at all of the pretty Christmas lights. I got several great ideas for exterior decorating for next year, and look forward to having some Christmas lights outside my home. G was immediately asleep in his car seat, so I got to enjoy quality time and conversation with my husband. Conversations are more fun when they don't revolve around feeding and diapers.
-Doing some light Christmas baking. I had to break in my new kitchen! I love having pretty appliances and nice countertops, and I had a great time making some family favorites. I was thinking that baking will be even more fun in a few years when little man can help me cut out sugar cookies or unwrap Reese's cups for his daddy's favorite Christmas goodie.
-Seeing lots of family. Almost all of G's extended family has stopped by at some time or other during the holiday season. We've had visits from all three grandmothers and grandfathers, two great-grandfathers, two great-grandmothers, two aunts and uncles, a cousin, and two great aunts.
-G's first trip to church. Our ped recommended G not go to church until he was at least 2 months old due to risk of cold, flu, and RSV. We did "cheat" for the Christmas candlelight service at church, and G went with me in his Moby wrap. I sat on the back row in case we needed to make a quick exit, but G loves being snuggled in his Moby, and slept the whole time. I loved being able to attend church for the first time in over a month.
-Getting to fill G's stocking. Since G is so little, there wasn't much under the tree this year. However, he did have his stocking filled with a few toys from mom and dad. He even smiled in response to one of his new toys, which was fun.
We're looking forward to starting Christmas traditions with our little guy in the future. I'd imagine Christmases are going to get much louder around here in the next few years; what fun that will be!
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
One Month Old
My sweet boy is a month old today; time really does fly with a little one. A few highlights from the past month include-
Firsts?- Everything was a first this month! Some of the more memorable firsts included your first bath (complete with lots of pictures to show your first date one day), first trips out of the house to somewhere other than the pediatrician's office (my district office and Panera Bread), and first big smile.
Sizes? Newborn clothes, but I don't think for much longer, and size 1 diapers.
Eating? Exclusively nursing for now around every 3 hours, with some longer intervals in the evenings. You aren't picky, and will happily take a bottle from daddy.
Sleeping? You sleep for a significant part of every day right now, but are becoming more alert during the day. At night you usually sleep at least one good 5 to 6 hour stretch at some point.
Favorite things? You love anything that plays music, so your swing is one of your favorite places. You are rarely without your pacifier and get very upset if you spit it out and can't find it again. Your favorite pacifier is your WubbaNub, as you can somewhat hold on to it.
Like mommy? Your red hair and chin dimple
Like daddy? Your upper lip and the expression you wear when you're trying to figure something out.
Firsts?- Everything was a first this month! Some of the more memorable firsts included your first bath (complete with lots of pictures to show your first date one day), first trips out of the house to somewhere other than the pediatrician's office (my district office and Panera Bread), and first big smile.
Sizes? Newborn clothes, but I don't think for much longer, and size 1 diapers.
Eating? Exclusively nursing for now around every 3 hours, with some longer intervals in the evenings. You aren't picky, and will happily take a bottle from daddy.
Sleeping? You sleep for a significant part of every day right now, but are becoming more alert during the day. At night you usually sleep at least one good 5 to 6 hour stretch at some point.
Favorite things? You love anything that plays music, so your swing is one of your favorite places. You are rarely without your pacifier and get very upset if you spit it out and can't find it again. Your favorite pacifier is your WubbaNub, as you can somewhat hold on to it.
Like mommy? Your red hair and chin dimple
Like daddy? Your upper lip and the expression you wear when you're trying to figure something out.
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