Seidel Sickness Update

Quick update to those of you who texted or emailed today: thank you for thinking of us and I'm sorry if I've not yet responded. It turns out that Atticus has an ear infection and just the continuous cold. So, he is on Augmentin (sp?) for 10 days and as long as I can keep fluids in him and keep his fever down, we should hopefully get well soon.

Vic has an ear infection, strep throat, and a cold. Wow! He is on amoxicillan (sp?) and mucinex and is drinking gatorade and eating chicken soup like it's going out of style! (and I did see the bag of sugar cookies I made in our room where he has his nest of "get well items" so he must still be in the Christmas spirit even when he's sick!)

So, that is the update. Hopefully we are getting better quick so we can begin our travels to Sanger this Friday. Atticus was practicing throwing paper around today when I found him in the magazine rack going through our entire stack of magazines for us. So, he will be ready to rip open packages, if for nothing else, to play with the wrapping paper!

I'm tired and off to bed....:) Sarah

Atticus @ 7 1/2 months

I am sitting here this morning with 2 sick boys on my hands. Vic and I have been fighting a cold this past week but yesterday out of the blue, the cold took Vic down. He is in bed, shivering, cannot breathe, cannot sleep, and feeling awful. Somebody is going to the doctor today! Atticus on the other hand has been sick enough to be on amoxicillan for the last 10 days but is now off of it and still not better. In fact, we haven't had much milk since noon yesterday. And baby food - he liked it going down, but not so much when it decided it didn't want to stay where we put it. Poor baby. So, he is going back today too. I am just not a confident enough mom yet to think "he'll get over it" or "he's just teething" (another thing I sort of think has something to do with his crankiness and warm head (but of course no fever to help me diagnose!)). Anyways, so I'm praying I do not get sick and that my 2 sweet men in my life can get better fast!

Anyways, much has happened in the last couple of months....mostly holidays! Atticus was the most adorable dragon at Halloween! And, we continued with lots of Aggie Football watching and wearing lots of maroon! We had Thanksgiving in Orange Grove. And, we are now getting ready to head to Sanger for Christmas and Orange Grove for New Year's. Whew - lots of traveling, but I'm getting excited!

Right now, Atticus is...wait for it...7 and one half months old! How did that happen!? And, just like everyone tells you, not only does the time fly by but he gets more fun everyday. Here are a few facts about our sweet baby:

• He has 4 teeth now; 2 on bottom and 2 coming in on top.
• He eats lots of baby food and loves mum-mums!
• I am down to nursing him only once a day. I just couldn't keep up with work, I guess. I am not sure - I am telling myself I didn't fail, and am thankful I still get to nurse him some. Of course, I am also telling myself that maybe he wouldn't be sickly if I could just get my nice immune-system building milk in him! :)
• He mastered sitting up on his own and playing for hours at a time (hours broken out by naps and eating) and then he was getting on all fours. We were so excited! And then....
• WE CRAWLED. It occurred one week ago. He is pretty adorable when he crawls, but this does require a full-time eye on him. Gone are the days of running around the house being productive while he sat on his quilt in the living room playing.
• He has certain toys that tend to be his favorite and then he tires of them and moves on to something else more intellectual. Right now, in the car, we still like Sophie. But, in the house, we like toys that make noise. He has a ball that rolls around on it's own and a bear that plays lots of songs.
• He claps! This can occur randomly when he hears music but ALWAYS occurs when the bear plays Patty Cake. ADORABLE.
• He is starting to wave. I think they are teaching him that at school. His little hand closes just enough over and over and we are calling it his wave.
• He makes lots of noise! I think he likes to hear himself talk to be honest. Sometimes he'll squeal really loud and then look surprised as if to say "Did I just do that?"
• He also likes to bang things on the ground, or bang them together. He has the donut toy that stacks and he holds two of those and bangs them together.
• He is SO curious. He always wants to know what somebody else is doing and always wants to touch what he is not allowed to touch.
• He is wearing size 3 diapers still and we think about 21 lbs. He is also in mostly 9 months clothes.
• We have just moved him to a convertible carseat. My goodness - that thing was huge! But, I know he is more comfortable than he was before.

I guess those are the updates for now. To completely satisfy you, here are some pics from the last couple of months.

Family Pictures

We were finally able to get professional family pictures made this last month! We have not had Erwin family pictures made since Charley was about 3 years old. 20 years ago. Wow! So, GG recently purchased a portrait sitting at an auction from Angie Lintner Photography, we got everyone's schedules aligned and took some pictures! It was windy and cold that day, but I am still so proud of them. Here are a few...

Atticus at 6 months

These are quick updates, but I think it's important to note that taking pictures of Atticus may never be the same again....

A shopping problem...

I think I have a shopping problem when it comes to buying clothes for Atticus. First of all, I try to be frugal when shopping for his clothes and only buy things on sale; the problem is that places like Gymboree and Crazy Eights tend to give good deals all the time and they send me these nasty emails that tell me I am a terrible mother if I do not buy these clothes for my son immediately to make sure he is always dressed adorably! Okay, not quite, but I seriously need to remove myself from their email list; I get emails constantly that lure me into their website.

Anyways, I actually do not have a lot of clothes for him that are long sleeved or very many pants and it is starting to get chilly in the mornings. In fact, the first 2 days of the cold front I took Atticus in a short sleeved, short panted romper with no socks. I knew it was chilly but also knew it would get warmer plus he stays inside most of the time at school. I know they go out, but I've seen them only out when it's warm enough. However, when I got to school each day, I noticed the other children and even the teachers dressed in jeans/pants/long sleeves. Hmmm...should I be getting a hint? He was not cold by any means, but just in case I dressed him in pants and long sleeves today.

I digress. So, earlier this week I got one of those tempting emails and decided to make an order. I couldn't stop putting things into my "cart". So, about 10 minutes later, I had ordered 4 long sleeved onesies, 1 romper, 1 sleeper, 1 pair of jeans, 1 pair of pants, a button down and a sweatshirt. And I waited to tell Vic until the order was already made. heeheehee...

Today we got our fun package! This purchase was mostly owl-themed.
I can't wait to dress him in these things. Let's hope he doesn't outgrow them (or they don't shrink) too quickly. I sure hope we have another boy in out future because we are going to have plenty of clothes for him to wear.

P.S. The white onesie above says "Owl always love my mommy". Of course you didn't expect me to pass that one up, did you?

And just so you do not go to bed tonight feeling deprived, here is our little boy and what he did this evening before bedtime...
1. Watched the Rangers play in a World Series game with Daddy.

2. Play with Daddy's face - one of his new favorite things; but goodness those little hands can really squeeze and pinch!
3. Grow up before our very eyes (our tearful, sad eyes because he is growing too fast!).
Goodnight!

Rice Cereal vs. Oatmeal

As I have told you, Atticus began eating rice cereal at the beginning of October. He eats it once a day, usually about 6:30 each evening. He looks like such a big boy sitting in his high chair! He can get pretty messy with just rice cereal, so I can only imagine what eating real food will be like one day. Each evening as he takes the first bite, he gets this terrible look on his face that says "What are you feeding me? This stuff is terrible!" Then he realizes he does like the bland, mushy food and just keeps popping open that mouth like a little bird ready for more. In fact, I've even had to refill the bowl a couple of times with just a little more food because he gets very unhappy if he has run out of that delicious stuff. So, he thinks rice cereal doesn't taste too bad and is pretty content.

Until last night. That is when we tried baby oatmeal Atticus. Loves. Oatmeal. I could be wrong; he could have just been extra hungry or in a good mood last night, but he gobbled that stuff up! I have to admit that it does smell a little more enticing. So, oatmeal is preferred over rice cereal.

First Rice Cereal Feeding:
Our first try at rice cereal was on October 7th. We hadn't setup the high chair, so he ate out of his bumbo. On this night, he really thought he needed to grab the spoon and feed himself. We thought it was so cute so we let him hold onto the spoon....to then grab it from him quickly when he tried to shove it down his throat. Then, towards the end of the first feeding, he found his toes and just couldn't quite take his eyes and fingers off of them. So, while I could call the first rice cereal feeding a success, he did have a hard time concentrating.

A Morning Rice Cereal Feeding:
I will also add that sometimes it is nice to just feed in him a diaper and nothing else. Sometimes, he get rice cereal everywhere, despite how big his bib is. So, here he is in a diaper and nothing else ready to eat!
And here is our happy boy just hanging out in his high chair waiting to eat dinner with the rest of the family (okay, let's be honest here; even if we try to do this all at once, Atticus gets priority over Mommy's warm food...but that is ok!)

Atticus

Good Morning! Just last night, my friends and I were talking about how we are behind on blogging, so this morning I'll just throw some thoughts out there! Since my last post, Atticus got over his cold, though it took about a month and one round of Amoxicillin. We also started rice cereal once a day and these past 2 weeks have had to go on 1/2 formula and 1/2 breastmilk during the day at daycare. Otherwise, we are still nursing. Rice cereal has been fun; from day one he just opens that little mouth as if he knew exactly what to do; our pediatrician told us that he would start watching us eat more closely and sure enough, he does. Also, everything is still going in our mouth these days....everything. And, what's more? We have our first tooth coming in - it began popping through on the 15th of October. Atticus is loving all toys. He will lay on his tummy and reach for them, but sometimes just pushes them away instead. So, he will reach and reach and slowly move around until he can inch his way to that toy. He concentrates so hard! He is also loving the jumperoo we borrowed from our friends, the Wagners. He just bounces and bounces, as he is doing right now as I type this. He is definitely moving around more...I'm afraid the days of leaving him laying on the living room floor to play while I do things around the house are over. He starts at one end and in about 30 seconds he has rolled all the way to the other end of the rug; sometimes that makes him end up at the couch; sometimes the entertainment center where he then likes to reach for the electronics. Time to babyproof our home? I think so. He does only roll repetitively one way - to his right. He can go to his left but only one roll; multiple rolls head towards the right. Let's see - what else about Atticus? He has a pretty normal morning routine. If we are up around 5-ish, we eat and then bounce while I do things in the kitchen. Then, we head to the bathroom and he stays in his rocker while he plays with toys. Then, somehow over the hubbub of shower noise and hairdyers and shavers, he is lulled back to sleep until it is time to dress him and head to his school. At school, he has been taking 3 hour naps in the morning. At home this past weekend, he also took long morning naps. So, that is nice. We have enjoyed also putting him in our bed in the morning when we do not go to work to go back to sleep; while we do not plan to let him sleep with us regularly, I just love to let him snuggle up in the early morning hours in our bed to sleep for a couple more hours!

Oh! And Atticus is responding to his name now! He can look one way at something and if Vic or I say his name, he turns his head the opposite direction just to see us. Okay, I know there is more Atticus news, but I have to get ready for work.

Pictures to come eventually....Sarah

Update

I have wanted to update and wanted to update and alas, I cannot seem to find time to upload pictures lately, so I'm just going to give you some words and pictures can come later.

Since I last posted, we had some wonderful friends and family come into town (Veretts and Mary); Atticus had his 4 month appointment; I started back to work; Atticus started daycare; Atticus got his first cold; we went to Sanger for my 10 year high school reunion; and we bought a new truck for Vic. Whew. Let me go into a few quick details.

First of all, Atticus is doing really good and growing and changing very quickly. At his 4 month appt, he was 15 lbs. 12 oz and 25 1/2 inches long--in the 75th percentile. At 4 1/2 months, he can roll over very easily from back to front and occasionally from front to back; he can push himself up with his front arms and hold his head up really well while on his tummy; he is playing with toys more now--such as grabbing onto and holding Sophie, his stuffed horses, his "ipod", rattles, his taggy, his caterpillar and still playing with the toys that hang from his rocker; everything goes into his mouth...even your finger if he happens to be playing with it! He is also just now starting to grab his toes. He is playing in a bouncy seat we borrowed from our friends, the Wagners, and loving it! He talks a lot when he is in a great mood and just coos and grins and stares at us for a long time when we have him on his changing table or play with him on the floor. He has been holding his hands up in the air just randomly. And I think he even started to reach out for us this weekend, but it could have just been wishful thinking...I'll keep you posted on that one. He loves to have you hold him up so he is standing tall on his little chunky legs. He is grabbing onto the bottle when he takes it (we are still nursing of course, but he gets a bottle at daycare and Vic noticed this habit when he had to give him a bottle when I worked late one day). He is good in church, but a little noisier than he used to be.

I think he really enjoys daycare; he can be exhausted sometimes when he gets home...so many things to look at and do. I wish I could just sit and watch how he interacts and plays one day without him being around me. I'm so curious. I am very happy with our daycare and hope we continue to be happy. His teachers are just so kind and I feel like they love him, which was the hardest part for me when taking him. I just wanted someone to love him and hold him and take care of him like he was their own. And, I feel like that is what we are getting. He doesn't cry when I drop him off and I feel like he has good days there. I am just so thankful for the people at the WEE School.

He is getting a bigger personality everyday. I love love love the way he looks at us and stares into our eyes or looks around. And his grin just lights up our days. He is at that "put on your hip" stage. I can carry him around and he holds himself up and balances. While I am still cautious and nervous he is just going to flip over backwards sometimes when he gets to moving, I am just so impressed by how strong he is.

He is still eating well, but now starting to want up in the middle of the night at least once, if not also really early for a 2nd time (4:30 or 5:00 ish) to eat again. We are trying to figure out what happened to our 10 hour a night sleeping baby. Partly, he is turning himself over on his stomach. Sometimes when he does that, he stirs and then goes right back to sleep. Other times (most times), he wakes up unhappy. Then that leads to wondering if he is unhappy that he can't turn back over easily yet or unhappy because he is hungry or unhappy because he is stopped up. Either way, it usually means one of us is up to clear his nose and then feed him and put him back down. Even that has taken some time lately; he flips right back to his tummy and then cries some more until we can get him back to sleep. Last night, when he woke up at 1:00 am, I just crawled on the couch, nursed him until he fell asleep and then laid him right beside me to sleep the rest of the night. He slept until 5:45 am when he got hungry again, but I needed a good night of sleep to start the week, and I decided that was the best way to get it last night. Tonight I'll go back to putting him in his bed to sleep after his late night snack....

I am also looking forward to starting rice cereal at 5 months; our pediatrician said to start him then, after he has had a month in daycare. I am hoping that if he is waking up because he is hungry, then this will help satisfy his little tummy longer and let him sleep more in the night. The other bad thing about nursing at night is that I lose a bottle of milk. I typically pump once in the middle of the night to get an extra bottle. But, if he wakes up to eat, then I lose that pumping...good thing we have quite a bit saved in the freezer!

Oh and Atticus got his first cold. 2 days into daycare and he was sick. The good news is that the doctor told us it was just a virus and it would pass. So, after a couple of rough nights, he actually started sounding better and breathing better to the point where he could sleep in his bed and not propped up on me or Vic for the night. (however, I did love that part - he was so snuggly!!). The bad news is that he still has a constant stopped up nose. It seems to be worse at night. So, a call has gone into the pediatrician today just to make sure we are still doing what we need to do. At least he has not had a fever at all or even felt bad after those first couple of days!

I know there are more things to post about Atticus and definitely some pictures to show off, but for now, those are my updates.

Oh, about Vic's truck...he got one! It's a pretty 4 door, 1/2 ton, Texas Edition Chevy. He got it this weekend. His old one was just costing more to fix than a new one's payment would be. I mean, it was 14 years old - his dad's to begin with. So, while sad to see it go, he is pretty proud of this new truck!! It's red and he is still finding a name for it. I forget about naming vehicles. I have never named one of mine. When he started talking about what to name "her", I asked what my traverse's name was. He said "mom-mobile". Nice. He gets something fun like "Red Betty" or "Ruby" and I get "mom-mobile". Actually, I'll take it - because I love being a mommy.

Atticus and Friends

This weekend was wonderful! We are very good friends with 2 other couples, who, when they visited last fall, were both also pregnant. In February, Mandee and Derek had Beck; and just two days after Atticus was born, in May, Camden was born to Todd and Emily. So, everyone came down for the weekend so our boys could meet and the adults could catchup. All 3 boys were even down by 9 or 10 each night and Vic and I, for the first time in a long time, CHOSE to stay up until midnight laughing and visiting! I think the pictures will say it all.

Future Aggie Roommates?

We cannot wait for our yearly family vacations!!

Happy Saturday!

We sure love this sweet boy! So, I thought I'd share a picture from last week when we had so much fun with GG in town. Happy Saturday morning everyone!

Holy Baptism

Atticus was baptized on Sunday, July 31, 2011. We had our families in town for the weekend to celebrate and cooked out Saturday night. It was a very special occasion, as we also celebrated GG's birthday on the 30th! Pastor Erich did a wonderful job and the service was very special. Atticus only cried during the prayer, of course. We asked Charley & Jill to be his sponsors. It was also fun because Jill was baptized 28 years ago on the exact same date! Atticus also wore the same outfit that Vic wore when he was baptized many, many years ago. See some pictures below!

Everyone sang Happy Birthday to GG on Saturday night (between the busy week, she even ended up making her own cake!)

Being presented to the congregation by our beloved Pastor.
After the baptism, he was wide awake, and while we have no pictures, he was giving the most flirty grins to Ana sitting behind us!!

Jill and Charley are Atticus' sponsors - boy are we expecting a lot out of them!

Our families and friends who came to celebrate.

Now, the work begins! Vic and I were riding the easy train for 3 months; now we have to work hard to raise this sweet little boy to know, follow, and love our Lord. And, of course, we look forward to every moment.