We have been sick!!

Well the plague has hit the Stepp house.  I had a touch of food poisoning Thursday night.(6-27-13) Then, Justin has got food poisoning on Friday night. We are thinking maybe bad Hot Pockets. So no more Hot Pockets for a while. Justin also has his first kidney stone(s). We are hoping just one and we are hoping it passes soon. (We have heard that kidney stones may cause nausea and even vomitting, so that may have been the culprit! And the kidney stone did pass that night!)

In baby new, Stephen is doing great! His teachers at daycare say he rolls over all the time! He has been chewing a lot since he was about 2 months old, but in the last week or so has been chewing a lot more and a lot harder. He really isn't very fussy about it, just chewing like crazy! He is eating cereal daily with veggies so far. He likes sweet potatoes, peas and squash so far and does NOT like green beans! 

Addy spend the weekend with us. She is such a big helper! Right when she walks in she says she needs to hold Baby Stephen! She is learning that she only gets to hold him when Lala or Nana are beside her. We had an incident where I left him laying on a palate in the floor to go get something from the kitchen, I told her before going in there to leave him alone and DO NOT pick him up! I came back in the living room 45 seconds later to him crying because she was trying to pick him up...  Now, maybe he was crying and then she tried to pick him up to comfort him, but I'm not so sure. 

She is usually a big helper, though! She wants to help change diapers, give him a bath, get him dressed, even clean the house! She loves to vacuum and do the dishes! I love getting to spend time with her and I love that these two crazy cousins are going to get to be such good friends and take care of each other!

          Addy holding Baby Stephen!

First word!!!

He said Dadda!!! He was just repeating me, not actually saying to Daddy, but Daddy was holding him when he said it. Super exciting to me!!

He has started sucking his thumb in the last couple of days. This is apparently a very contraversial issue! Some people think it a bad habit to let him start. Well, we are not "letting" him start it. He just does it. We put this paci in his mouth and when it falls out he goes for the thumb. I guess it is just easier to suck the thumb than find the paci and put it back in, which he is actuly kinda of starting to get the hang of! :)

               Sucking his thumb!!

Swimming for the first time!!

We went swimming last weekend for the first time. The water was a little chilly but still fun!

       He thought it was kind of chilly!

        Look at his crinkled little toes!! 

5 Months Old

Stephen is 5 months old!! This month he has began rolling over and eating. He LOVES to eat. 

        Taking his very first bite ever!

At first he didn't know what to think. After the first few bites he went after it. The first night we fed him he slept from 7:30pm until 5am!! He must have known I was pretty sick and needed the sleep. He has not slept through the night again yet. Hopefully that starts happening soon, but i am not holding my breath. As if we had never fed him...anything! Now he eats in the morning at daycare and at home before he goes to bed. I am excited to start trying veggies, fruits and other "real" food. 

He is getting very good at sitting up in the Bumbo. He is becoming much more vocal and majoring lots of new noises and sounds! (I would put a video but this blogger app won't let me?!) 

  Such a happy boy sitting in his Bumbo!

And he has started riding the Bumbo like a horse..

                         Giddy up

Doesn't he know that is frowned upon in this establishment. I just know he is going to tumble out one of these days. (Don't worry, I am always within arms reach!) 

He doesn't have any teeth yet, but is always chewing on everything! 

His favorite thing right now are playing with Daddy, stranding up and eating! 

                Stephen and Papa

                 Stephen and Nana

                 Stephen and Meme

               5 month old (the day) picture!!

Swaddle Free?

Well, we tried for an entire week to go without a swaddle. 

          Sleeping without his swaddle

The first night (Friday) he woke up 7-8 times. On the second night only 3-4 times. So naturally I thought we would be past the whole swaddling thing before the weekend was over. That's what I get for thinking. Last night (Thursday) he woke up EVERY hour. That was the second or third time this week he did that. So, along with going to work every day, I have also been waking up WAY to many times at night. This makes for a very cranky Mommy. Now, with the helpful advise of some of my mommy friends, I have decided my baby, despite what the doctor says, is just not ready to sleep unswaddled. Tonight, when Stephen got a little tired, I gave him a shower, Daddy got him dressed and played with him for a few minutes, then, I played with him for a few minutes, swaddled him and put him in bed. I did have to go in his room once to settle him (only having to pat his tummy). HE FELL RIGHT TO SLEEP!!!! I suffered for an entire week with nothing to show for it, except bags under my eyes! But we will be trying again in a couple of weeks. 

Well, it wasn't all for nothing. The second night without a swaddle he rolled over from his back to his tummy! 

   How I found him at midnight Saturday!

Since then, he has been rolling from back to tummy like crazy! What the heck?! He is getting so big! And mobile!! I know tomorrow he is just going to take off running! He was rolling from tummy to back a little before, but was having a hard time with it. He is still having a hard time rolling from tummy to back (that darn arm is always in the way). But rolling from back to tummy seems to be old news, and he's only really been doing it a day or two!!! 

            The many ways he sleeps.

                        (this week)

4 1/2 months

Stephen went in for his 4 month check. He's actually 4 1/2 months old but our Dr. appt got delayed a little. 

His stats:

Weight: 13lbs 13oz (18%ile)

Height: 26" long (77%ile)

Head: 16.5" around (30%ile)

Dr. Austin is not concerned about him being in the 18%ile in weight. He says he is growing at a good rate and there is nothing alarming him about his weight. 

We do have some things to work on. We are already working on the flat spot on his head. I believe some improvement has been made on it.

I have been working and getting it rounded out. Dr. Austin is ok keeping and eye on it right now and reevaluating it at the next appointment. He gave us some good tips on how to fix it, so hopefully we get it taken care of before he turns a year old. 

He also wants us to get away from the swaddle. We use it at night and it really helps him sleep through most of the night. We took to swaddle away Friday night. Let's just say it was a rough night! He normally wakes up at around 3am and then again at 5:30-6am. Friday night he woke up at least 6 times, but I think it was probably actually 7-8 times. Saturday evening was a little better. He woke up 4-5 times. So, hopefully tonight is back to normal. 

Dr. Austin wants us to wait until at least 6 months before introducing solid foods. I am okay with this, due to the fact that Daddy was so allergic to food as a baby. Stephen is beginning to get interested in us eating. He follows our spoon/fork to our mouth and even began mimicking me chewing today. 1 1/2 more months and he will get to start eating!! Yay!! 

After his checkup he had to get shot. Boo!! I don't like this part (like any mother does) He got 3 shots and 1 oral vaccine. He loves the oral. He also loves Infant Tylenol. He didn't so too bad with the shots. He cried a little and stopped. But, then saw the nurse and had a bit of a melt down. So, they let us go in a room and nurse. That helped a lot!! (Mommy and baby!!) 

After that, we went home and napped a little. 

         Snuggling after Stephen's Dr. 

                      appointment.

Sleeping without a swaddle for the first time!!