2-Month Dr. Appointment and First "Real" Smiles

My mom came to visit today and to take care of Ethan for me while I took Ryan to his 2-month well-baby check up. An exciting event of the day was that, as I was changing Ryan's sleeper before we left for the doctor's office (this happens multiple times daily due to his constant spitting up), he looked right at me and smiled several times :) Melted my heart. We've seen him smile many other times, but he's always been sleeping or smiling while looking off at something random in the distance. It was so wonderful to see him intentionally smile at me.
We are also so happy to report that his check up went very well! His weight gain has continued to track very well despite all of the spit up. He is almost at the 25th percentile for weight (which Ethan never even approached!) at 10 lbs 6 oz. and 75th percentile for height at 23 1/4 inches. He did really well with his first set of immunizations and just ran a mild fever for a short time afterward.

Consignment Sale Season Has Begun and Our Most Reliable Soother for Ryan

Despite my extreme sleep-deprived state (which has pretty much become a constant), I got myself up and ready early this morning to arrive at the beginning of a local MOPS consignment sale. Fun! I thoroughly enjoy bargain hunting and was quite pleased with my haul. I usually find some items at sales like this one, but I found A LOT at this particular sale, primarily for Ethan (and Ryan will grow into the clothes), but also several cute shirts and a couple of pairs of jeans for Ryan.
I bought: 6 long-sleeved shirts, 5 pairs of jeans, 7 pairs of pants, 10 short-sleeved shirts, 1 pair of water shoes, 1 fisherman's hat, 1 pair of pajamas, and 2 pairs of shorts for $32.50. This is actually a bit more than I would usually spend on these items at a sale, but most of the clothes were in like-new condition, and retail for them would have been MUCH more. Woo hoo for deals!

Today I also took a short video of Ryan doing what he enjoys most these days- Riding in his swing! When he is fussy the swing has been our best bet to calm him. It has really been a wonderful, generally reliable way to soothe him. And yes, I am aware that he is neither buckled in nor is the tray attached (I secured him right after I recorded the video). I promise that we are careful about making sure that he is safe in his swing!

Ryan's First Bottle Was a Success!

Since Ryan experienced so many medical complications right after birth, and I wasn't able to attempt nursing him until he was 9 or 10 days old, our pediatrician recommended that we wait to try a bottle until he was 6-8 weeks old. Today we decided to try it! We didn't want to wait too long since we've heard that breastfed babies sometimes reject bottles. I researched bottles and found one at Target that is supposed to mimic breastfeeding very well (Breastflow made by The First Years), and it got rave online reviews from many moms. Ryan didn't even bat an eye at trying this bottle. He gulped it down, no problem. Now I know that I will be able to be away from the house over a feeding time- Yay!

Second Synagis Shot

I took Ryan and Ethan to our pediatrician today for Ryan to receive his second Synagis shot. Despite a ridiculous amount of spitting up, Ryan managed to gain weight and is now 9lbs 14oz. He has been tracking at about the same percentiles as Ethan had (around 10th percentile for weight and 75th for height).
Due to the risk of a reaction to the injection, with each Synagis dose a nurse has to check Ryan's vitals before administering the shot, 10 minutes afterward, and then another 10 minutes after that. So, we ended up being in the exam room for quite awhile. If he were to show signs of an allergic reaction, the nurse would give him a shot of epinephrine. Thankfully Ryan had no problem with either dose of Synagis that he received. I was very proud of Ethan for being patient (for the most part) during this time, but was also glad that I brought the stroller along so he was "confined" while we waited. Since this dose will be effective for 28-30 days, Ryan won't need to get any more doses before RSV season is over- Yay!

Snuggling

My postings are much overdue- Hopefully I'll have a whole bunch to post in a row (as long as I can manage to stay awake to work on them...)!! Here are some photos of Ryan snuggling in my lap :) Dan and I find it funny that he tends to furrow his brows while sleeping when the camera flashes. In all three of these pictures he looks serious or upset because his little brows are furrowed!

Ethan's Boo Boo and Computer Time

Ethan got a boo boo on his chin today while he was playing in the toy room. My mom came to our house to help out with the boys, and the best we can figure is that Ethan cut his chin on his plastic firefighter hat that we got at a local Touch a Truck event last year. He cracked Dan and me up because I had covered his cut with a bandaid, and when Dan got home from work, Ethan informed him that "Mommy put a big rubber band on my chin".
Dan let Ethan play Sesame Street games on his work laptop tonight, and I thought it was so cute how little Ethan looked compared to the computer on his lap, so I took a few pictures. The blue thing on his chin is his "big rubber band" ;)

Ryan Snuggling with Daddy

Dan and I are trying to take advantage of this time when Ryan enjoys being cuddled. He'll outgrow this stage before we know it!

Couple of Miscellaneous Pictures of Ryan

Sleepy guy

Ryan really enjoys looking at his colorful patchwork doggie

Brotherly Love

Ethan has been a fantastic big brother, and we are so thankful for that. It has been a smooth transition for him from only child to having a little brother around. Ethan loves to hug Ryan and pat him on the head, brings us his pacifier when Ryan cries, and makes sure that Ryan has a blankie to keep him warm. It is so sweet to see how he dotes on Ryan, and I hope that he continues to be as loving toward and protective of him as they get older. Ethan also enjoys playing with and taking care of the baby doll that I got him as well as a Cabbage Patch Kid (Elton) that his Uncle Mike gave him. Here Ethan is with Elton playing in a storage ottoman from his toy room.

Ryan napping on his boppy

Our Little Fountain of Spit-Up

We thought that Ethan spat up fairly frequently, but that was nothing compared with our little fountain Ryan. Thankfully we have not experienced the feeding difficulties that we did with Ethan though. Ryan has been eating a lot and gaining weight well, but he spits up 6-10 times after every feeding. We're talking mass quantities of spit-up. He usually goes through 5 or 6 outfits and umpteen burp cloths daily, so we have been laundering a lot. I took him to the pediatrician today because he often shows signs of discomfort when he is spitting up, and I was concerned about the frequency of his spit-up episodes and what could be done to help with the reflux. Ryan weighed 8lbs 7oz (which is really great- Up almost 2 pounds from when he was discharged from the NICU). Just during the 20 minutes or so that we were in the exam room with Ryan's pediatrician, Ryan spat up 7 or 8 times. Our doctor agreed that he really is a fountain, but wasn't overly concerned due to his excellent weight gain. As I had expected, he confirmed that the discomfort Ryan is feeling with spit-ups is due stomach acid coming up repeatedly in his esophagus. He prescribed a low dose of Prilosec to help suppress stomach acid and make him more comfortable until his digestive system matures enough to handle feedings better. Now if we could just keep the Prilosec down long enough! So far he has either pushed it out of his mouth with his tongue or spat up shortly after swallowing it, so who knows how much is actually getting into his system.

Ryan Lounging in His Bouncy Seat

This aquarium-themed bouncy seat was a huge hit with Ethan. He loved watching the stream of bubbles cause the colorful fish to move and starfish to rotate. Ryan is still too little for his eyes to be able to focus well enough to enjoy that part of the bouncy seat. He was more interested in looking at our entertainment center beside the bouncy seat instead, but he seems to like the vibration and music.

Ryan looks so tiny in his bouncy seat

Checking out the entertainment center