First ER Visit

My poor little guy is sick and I stayed home with him today. Early yesterday morning (around 2am), I took Jace to the emergency room. He's been running a low fever off and on since Sunday evening. Around 12:30am, I woke up to the sound of Jace breathing really loudly and a barking cough. I ran in his room to check on him and he was burning up. I stripped him down, his fever was 103.7, I gave him some Tylenol and put a cool washcloth on him. After almost an hour, he fever was only down to 103.3 and he sounded terrible so I decided to take him in. James stayed home with Avaree.

We got there and didn't have to wait long as soon as the RN in triage heard him. He could tell immediately he had croup. Once the doctor came in to see him, he quickly diagnosed him as having croup with stridor and an ear infection in his right ear. They gave us a dose of steroids (Decadron) to help with the inflammation in his throat and his first dose of an antibiotic (Amoxil) for his ears. He said there was nothing else they could do about the croup, just to keep the air he breathes cool and moist.
Other than the cough and breathing, he acted fine at the hospital. He smiled at the RN in triage and at the doctor when he walked in and he climbed all over the bed and wouldn't be still. We got home around 4am and Jace went right to bed.

He's feeling a little better, still running a low fever and his voice is hoarse. His coughing isn't that bad during the day, but it gets worse during the night. Hopefully he'll be back to normal soon!

9 Months

Happy 9 Months Big Boy!

Jace can't really be 9 months, can he? Our baby is growing up entirely too fast. He weighs around 21 pounds now, we'll find out his exact stats next week at his 9 month check-up. He is so fast and he's all over the place. We've had to put outlet covers on all the outlets and unplug the nightlights. He pulls up on anything he can and cruises along the furniture. He loves to walk with his Radio Flyer push wagon. He's outgrown his swing and is starting to not like being in the Jumperoo. He still likes his Around We Go station though. We put him in it in the bathroom while we're showering and getting ready. He really loves electronics, more so than his toys!

He still only has his two bottom teeth but I don't think it will be long before more cut through. He's almost outgrowing 9 month clothes, he fits in most 12 months. He's still in the medium setting in his diapers. He takes 7 ounce bottles and we are not adding cereal to them anymore! We've started cutting down on the bottle and using a sippy cup more. He's doing well with that. There's been some days where he's only had 2 bottles, the rest of the time he's drank his milk from a sippy cup. This boy LOVES to eat! He eats 3 meals a day, and sometimes a little snack in between. He eats stage 2 and some stage 3 baby foods but we also let him try whatever we are eating. Last night he had taco meat and cheese and tonight he had chicken fettuccine alfredo. He loved it all! We are going to start cutting out the baby foods and give him more table foods.

He still sleeps well, and he goes to bed so easily. We will just go and lay him in his bed when he gets sleepy and he'll go to sleep on his own. When we're home, he takes at least one 2-3 hour nap and maybe a shorter one also. It's a totally different story at daycare though, he usually takes 2 naps that are only 30-45 minutes.

I keep forgetting to mention this, but he's been without a pacifier for at least 4 months. I can't remember exactly when, but he never used it so we quit having one around and he hasn't even noticed. He does use his thumb sometimes though, but only when he's really sleepy.

Jace is such a pleasant baby (we get that compliment a lot!) and he's growing up to be such a big boy! I can't believe he'll be a year old in 3 short months! I've already started party planning!

Avaree's Biggest Fan

Avaree loves to sing and dance, especially to Taylor Swift. I got the karaoke machine out for her tonight and she had to dress up and perform for Jace. He loved it!

 

We have a crawler!

Jace started crawling today! He's been working so hard at it for the past few weeks and he finally did it today! We are so proud!

7 Months

Happy 7 Months Little Man!

Our little guy is growing up too fast! He's the sweetest boy ever and he makes us all so happy. He weighs a little over 19 pounds and fits in 9 months and 6-12 months clothes. He's in the medium setting in his cloth diapers.

 Jace is still taking 6 ounces of formula (with added rice cereal) about every 3 hours. I just started working on decreasing the rice cereal in his bottles to see if we can eventually not have to add any. His spitting up has drastically decreased. He very rarely does it anymore and it is so nice! He eats stage 2 baby foods and we let him try some of our food also. He has a jar for breakfast and dinner, we haven't started lunch yet but we will soon. He has also started drinking apple juice (half juice/half water) and he loves it!

He has 2 teeth on the bottom and he loves to bite and hold onto the spoon when he is eating. He thinks it's funny! He sleeps all night still, except for the past couple of nights he's woken up during the night. I think it's because of him teething.

Jace is such a happy baby and is always smiling and laughing. He loves to play and he will sit by himself and play for a little while. He LOVES his big sister! No matter how upset he is, she can always put a smile on his face. He is trying so hard to crawl, he'll get up on all fours and rock. He is all over the place, he rolls everywhere and army crawls! He loves to talk and he says several letter sounds. He can say Mama and Dada, but I don't think he relates that to us. He is so loving. He loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses. I'll tell him to give me sugars and he leans into me with his mouth open. Sometimes we don't even have to ask and he'll lean in for kisses! I love it!
Diaper changes nowadays are nearly impossible. As soon as I lay him on the changing table, he flips over. He's so fast! I have to try to hold him down to change him, he doesn't want to lay down and be still. It's so much harder to take his pictures too!

Tooth #2

Jace's second tooth broke through a few days ago. It's on his bottom right. He's bit my finger a few times and those teeth are sharp! He's doing well with the teething, he's drooling a lot and he's still sleeping great. He may wake during the night but he goes back to sleep on his own. He has been a little fussy sometimes but nothing too bad.

Christmas Day

Christmas day was a busy one! The kids didn't wake up until around 8:30 to see what Santa brought them.

 We opened up our gifts and then the family [Mom & Jeff, Justin & Jennifer, Dawn, Stephanie, Will, & Matt] came over for breakfast. We had breakfast casserole, grits, biscuits and muffins. After breakfast, we had Christmas with James' side of the family. We got some great stuff, and it's so fun now to see Jace and Matt playing together.

After we spent some time with them, we went over to Mom & Jeff's for Christmas and a late lunch. Jeff cooked delicious steaks, we ate, and then we opened presents.

 

We all had a great Christmas, I just can't believe it's already over!

A Brown Christmas

Last night, we all went up to Pearson for Christmas with my Dad's side of the family. It was a late night and we didn't get home until around 1am, and James had to be at work at 7am. We left when I got off work, drove up, had dinner (steak!), exchanged gifts, and drove home. It was a quick trip but we had a great time.