All Things Supercinski

Speedy seems to be a much happier baby this month. He still has lots of reflux symptoms (spitting up a ton, choking if on his back within 30 minutes of a feeding, coughing and choking if he hasn’t had his medicine in a while), but he is much happier. He weighs 15.5 pounds and wears 3-6 month clothes.

This month brought a lot of changes for little man. He started rolling over from his back to tummy during the middle of the month and he is very fast with it now. He has rolled over from tummy to back just a handful of times. While on his tummy, he “airplanes” with his chest and legs of the ground while kicking his feet as fast as he can. He gets really frustrated by his lack of mobility. He has a white spot under his lower gums, but it has not broken through. I keep thinking it will any day, but it still eludes us.

Sleep with Little Man became quite difficult this month. I had blamed most of his awful sleep issues on reflux, which I think was legitimate, but he had become so dependent on nursing to fall asleep, that combined with reflux and my oversupply issue, he was not sleeping well at all. He was having trouble staying asleep. After several nights of his night wakings that were normally 15 minute nursing sessions followed by 15 minutes being held upright asleep on my chest turning into hour or longer bouncing in the sling sessions (every hour and a half!), I was about to lose my mind. I read some of the sleep book, and we moved Speedy out of our room and our bed to the crib in the nursery, stopped swaddling (since he was rolling to his tummy in his swaddle), along with being more rigid about not letting him get overtired, he has started sleeping much better. He still wakes up 1-3 times a night, but those are quick feedings and he is right back to sleep. He takes 3-4 naps a day, and most naps are 45 minutes to one hour long. Occasionally, he will have a nice long, 2+ hour nap. Ideally, he needs to be put down after 1.5 hours of wakefulness, but this can be difficult sometimes. He can also go to sleep without nursing sometimes, which is helpful.

He is working so hard at using his hands to grab toys and other objects. He likes watching his feet and grabbing at toys and putting them in his mouth a bit. He loves his big brother and smiles at him all the time. He laughs really hard at his sister, and is not as afraid of her as he used to be (though he still has every right to be afraid of her!)

We sure love our sweet little baby. If you see him, tell him not to be in such a hurry to be mobile, k?

44. Organizing from the Inside Out by Julie Morganstern – Thomas picked this up from the library in anticipation of our yearly major decluttering that takes place around New Year. I thought this lady had some great things to say in analyzing the reasons why one cannot stay organized. It was a really quick read that was helpful in preparing for our kitchen decluttering and reorganization, along with some practical tips for the kids’ room. That place overwhelms me! I skipped the sections on offices and businesses, so I was able to read this in an afternoon.

45. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth – I have had this book since Josiah was a baby and have referenced it often. However, Micah has been a different baby altogether than the other two, and I actually sat down and read most of this book this month, so I am counting it. There is a lot of wisdom in this book and he gives you a lot of options to decide what best fits your child and your parenting practices. I recommend it for my childbirth students just to know what normal sleep is for their babies at different ages. I had no clue when Josiah was a baby!

46. Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat – I saw this recommended on Pinterest, but my, was this a sad, sad book to read. I appreciated the glimpse into Haitian culture, but it was a very depressing book.

47. The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam – This book is written by a Cambodian woman who was sold into prostitution as a young teenager. It is her memoir of her escape from brothels and how she began rescuing thousands of girls and women from brothels. It was so sad, and reading about the corruption and brutality was difficult. The forward for this book was written by Nicholas Kristof, who wrote “Half the Sky.”

43. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Houssini – this is the same author who wrote the Kite Runner. This book was a page turner. I really enjoyed it and recommend it. Sorry, no time for synopsis, baby crying.

November was a great time for us to enjoy cooler weather, a bit of a slower pace, and focusing on thankfulness. The thankful tree was a big hit again. Some of my favorites were Sugar being thankful for the color purple, and Bud being thankful for his baby brother almost each night.

We spent Thanksgiving at home with Thomas’ parents. We were so thankful they made the drive. We weren’t going to attempt traveling with our car seat screamer yet. I made a ham (well, HEB made it, I reheated it), sweet potato casserole, roasted veggies, salad (from the garden), and rolls. Thomas’ mom took care of dessert. I was able to keep my meal dairy-free, which I have been working hard to do to see if it helps Speedy’s reflux.

A sweet young lady from our church got married earlier in November, and the kids enjoyed their first wedding. This picture is fuzzy (the camera lens was dirty for the first half of November, I have since discovered), but the kids were so cute and excited. Sugar’s favorite part was the dancing (she and all the young girls from church were dancing up a storm), and Bud’s favorite part was the chocolate covered strawberry someone found for him (they were all gone by the time we let him go get one.)

I started crafting again! It started by making a monkey for Sugar for his class unit on Caps for Sale at CC. That turned out to be a lot of fun, so I dusted off my sewing machine and haven’t looked back. Thanks Pinterest! Most of what I have made is Christmas gifts, so I cannot show you just yet. You can see the monkey joining the kids for a picnic snack. She’s the one in the Bumbo seat.

I also made some onesie dresses for a friend who just had her first girl.

The garden is growing like crazy, with broccoli heads galore, lettuce and spinach big and strong, green beans and cauliflower coming in, and brussels sprouts still waiting. The garden and big kids have enjoyed the rain.

We also started getting the kids to do more chores at dinner time. They make everything a party as they clear the table and clean the floors.

And lastly, King Bud and Queen Sugar display their royal crowns. That was a fun little craft. Bud wrote his name on the side of his crown with an arrow pointing down, just in case you weren’t sure who his name was referring to.

Better late than never! At three months, Speedy is much more agreeable than he was a month ago. He still has a lot of reflux symptoms and wakes up choking a lot, but he can finally sleep at night without being upright. This is huge for me after sleeping sitting up for twelve weeks with a baby on my chest. He weighs 14.5 pounds these days and is getting chubbier everyday. He lost the patch of hair on the top of each of his ears this month. It was over 1/2 inch long before it fell out!

He loves being held and yells and yells if he is put down for too long. Therefore, he gets worn a lot. I am so thankful for good baby carriers!

Speedy naps several times a day. At three months, he can stay awake for an hour and a half before needing a nap, and if we are out, it can be pushed to two hours. He screams in the car seat driving around town, which makes for frazzled Supercinskis when we arrive at our destination. His naps are about 45 minutes or an hour long, but I have hope that they will be someday! At night, he may go four hours between nursing, but it is often the first stretch of sleep that is is three or four hours and then he wakes every two to three hours after that. He falls asleep really quickly in the Moby Wrap when we are out.

His favorite person seems to be Bud. Speedy lights up with smiles and coos when Bud comes near. He tends to cringe a bit when Sugar is around as she likes to get too close and in his face too much.

We are getting lots of smiles and laughs from this guy. He also is very serious in studying what is going on around him. When he makes his “serious face”, he furrows his brow and purses his lips. I must get a picture! We sure love our sweet little boy.

Bud (top) and Speedy (bottom) at about the same age, perhaps a couple weeks difference. Speedy is definitely starting to look like his own person to me.

42. Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns – this was my book club’s book (though I did not attend) for October. The first half of this book was reading deja vu. I think I must have read it sometime before, but I couldn’t remember. It was a bit of a chore to finish, as it lagged quite a bit in the middle, but I really enjoyed it toward the end. Burns’ grandfather character reminded me so much of Gus McCrae in Lonesome Dove (one of my favorite characters in one of my favorite books), even what happens to him, that I thought she might have lifted it from Larry McMurtry. However, her book was published a year before Lonesome Dove, so I guess they are just coincidentally similar.

That’s all I read this month. I got bit by a crafting bug and have been doing that instead of reading. Also, holding a book while rocking and nursing a baby is not so easy as messing around on pinterest on the ipad. Just saying…

October was a busy, fun-filled month around here, enjoying the beautiful, somewhat cooler weather. The kids and I spent many mornings at the park and many afternoons riding bikes and scooters around the neighborhood.

The big kids spent a weekend at Nana and Woody’s house, and Thomas and I enjoyed a very quiet weekend at home with Speedy. You would think we might get a lot done, but no, we did not. We took some naps, ate out for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and enjoyed spending time with Speedy without many distractions. The house was eerily quiet without them, and we were glad to have them home again.

We spent one Saturday morning at Weinerfest, a local festival to benefit the animal shelter. Weiner dogs abounded in some hilarious costumes, and the kids really enjoyed the weiner dog races.

Thomas and Bud spent a weekend camping with some of our good friends from Waco. Their first ever “boys only” camping weekend was a success. Bud had a blast and crashed on the couch as soon as they got home.

We put our garden in the end of September, and it is growing quite well. Speedy and I enjoy going out to water it in the afternoon while he is in the Moby Wrap. He falls asleep before we are done. I think that is why everything is growing so well–consistency! We have broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts, green beans, lettuce, spinach, onions, carrots, peas, tomatoes (hopefully we get some before a freeze!), and bell peppers and basil still growing from the summer.

In school, Bud has really come along in his reading. It is as if something has clicked in his brain and everything is coming a little quicker than before. We spent some time learning about Lewis and Clark’s expedition and Davy Crockett. Bud was a huge fan, and dons his Davy Crockett costume everyday, wearing it all of the time we are home. A sweet friend gave him a coon-skin cap, and he made his own shotgun out of a stick, duct tape and paint. We aren’t gun toy people, but how could we resist such creativity?

The kids have been really into dressing up (Davy Crockett especially), and are getting more and more creative as they delve deeply into the dress up box. They also chose to dress up for pumpkin patch pictures, they really love dressing up.

This has been a long month. Poor Mr. Speedy was extremely fussy. He screamed every time he was in his car seat. He screamed in a bouncy seat. He screamed in the swing. It even got to where he screamed if he was swaddled and held in a baby carrier. It was a long month. He has reflux and has had to sleep upright, which means I get to wear him in the sling while he sleeps during the day, and I sleep propped up with pillows and him on my chest at night. Did I mention that it was a long month? Thankfully, things seem to be going much better after his two month checkup and a prescription antacid. I can actually lay him down to nap! It has only been a few days, so we haven’t attempted the nighttime laying yet.

Speedy began giving us lots of smiles and coos and almost giggles. He giggles in his sleep, which is just precious, even though it wakes me up since he is on my chest. He smiles at Sugar and Bud, even though Sugar can be too rough and too close to his face most of the time.

He is getting so big! He was 12 pounds and 23 inches at two months, and almost outgrowing many of his 0-3 month footie pajamas.

He likes being outside, being worn in the sling, and nurses often throughout the day. We are struggling to manage the oversupply (it seems more abundant than the past babies) and the poor kid chokes at every feeding, despite block feeding for longer and longer periods. It definitely didn’t help the reflux. Here he is with his future best bud and next door neighbor who is only four days older than him. So fun!

He is such a sweet baby, and even through all the difficulties of this month, I can honestly say that I am enjoying him as a newborn more than I have ever enjoyed a newborn. He is just so sweet and snuggly!

A sweet young lady in our church came over this week to practice her photography skills on Speedy. She captured his sweet little expressions so well, and you might notice some little rolls developing on our little guy.

There were more good ones, but the subject is not happy with a distracted mommy right now.