~*Baby Spotlight*~ - Monday, August 11, 2003

Mommieto2Girls wrote: Today's featured baby is John "KatieLeigh79".

John was born June 23, 2003.

The proud parents are Katie and Todd.

Please ask all questions here!!!

Mommieto2Girls replied: What are John's stats NOW and at BIRTH?

What is his room decorated like? Can you post some pictures?

What kind of products do you use? bathing, shampoo, meds, powders, ointments.......

KatieLeigh79 replied: Well John was 7.3 at birth, and is around 10.6 today - (that was last thursday we had him weighed). He will be 3 months on the 23rd (boy its amazing how fast time flies!) His room has a light blue ceiling (with little clouds painted into it) Light Yellow Walls and a border with little bunnies and bears in jammies tucked into bed with pacifiers and animals (to look as though they are sleeping) We were able to get this at BabiesRus on clearance which was nice because it was normally $20/roll so we did his whole room (including paint) for 45.00 (I will see when Todd gets home if he can show me where the camera cord is so that I can post a picture of it, he uses it a lot more then i do and have no idea where the little bugger is hidden! - As to favorites for products, DH loves Pampers and claims they are the best but honestly i see nothing wrong with any of the diapers we were given as gifts (still on the batch of them from when he was born) As to products we are still testing for the best of the diaper rash creams, lotions etc, i have found the 3 in 1 by Johnsons works well for owie buns, but am always open to suggestions, for shampoo Aveeno seemed to get rid of his cradle cap on the top of his head - but now he has it slightly between his eyebrows, i thought that left pretty soon after birth? Anyhow anything else anyone wonders let me know, I still know very little about baby raising but it is most certainly the hardest "job" i have ever taken on!

amynicole21 replied: How many times a day do you have to stop and marvel at how cute John is?

What is your favorite outfit to dress him in?

Who does he look more like, you or DH?

KatieLeigh79 replied: Well when he isn't screaming his head off or spitting up (laugh, he has colic & reflux) I seem to carry him around 24/7 so I get to stare at him all day long, he really is a cutie - My favorite outfit to put him in is a yellow onesie, with yellow socks and a duck bib (looks like the front of a ducks face) - i also have a thing with them- As to who he looks like its really hard to tell, my family keeps saying he looks like my baby brother - but i see more Todd in him then anything, he even has it down to where he pouts already then if someone doesn't respond to him, or try to cuddle or make him feel as though he is the center of attention he will start to cry, if someone doesn't pick him up right away he will start an awful howl like he is being tortured, and if that still doesnt work he will stiffen up and start to kick as though he is being beaten alive (rather silly, being this only takes him about 2 minutes to get to)

....Im trying to fight with the computer to open up files so that i can post a few pictures but its insane.. I need to redo this thing so badly its taking like 5-7 mins to open each file... so i will try it again in a while ( i need to go cut the grass *laugh*) But then i will come back and play more on here

KatieLeigh79 replied: Okay I managed to get a picture from this week up on the server, that is the most recent we have (11 weeks)

http://swg.avalys.com/john11weeks.jpg


and his birth photos are at:

http://www.avalys.com/j-r-richert-birth/index.html

(remember mommy is heavily medicated, looking rather awful and it made me half debate to even put the link up here *laugh* - you can also decide who he looks like

and his baptism photos (It was about two weeks ago) are here:

http://www.avalys.com/baptism/index.html

..also hate how i look in all of these, i am not a big fan of pictures but he's a cute little guy for sure

Kirstenmumof3 replied: What are your hopes and dreams for John?

Who does he resemble?

How did you choose his name?

ediep replied: He is so adorable!!! What a sweet face!!!

Is John FF or BF?

What type of bottles do you use?

What kind of formula (if any) do you use?

Does he like the car?

KatieLeigh79 replied: Lets see, my hopes and dreams for John, well my hope is that he is successful in whatever he wants to do in life, and goes at it with a vengance because as his mother i will support him 110%, and heck i will even bail him out of jail 1x (my mother used to tell me that) of course assuming that it isnt anything drastic... I still think he looks like my brother more then Todd or I, He and Kevin are identical in baby pictures which is funny so much you would think he should look like his parents and he doesn't. He got his name because John is Todd's fathers first name, and Robert is my daddies first name, So his initials are JRR (which is Todds fathers but only his middle name is Richard) but in using Robert for his middle that then gave him my dads name as well so he didnt get left out... Granted it was a battle for me, soo badly i wanted to name him Aydyn Tyler, but im thinking if we do the 1 or 2 more like Todd is saying we should then eventually i will get the name! I normally BF him every 3 - 3 1/2 hours from 6am - 8pm then he gets 2 of BM and 2 of Enfamil, i found in doing this he doesnt seem to spit up as badly at night, its not that we are trying to "suppliment" i find it easier though because he doesnt loose his entire meal by midnight and think he wants to eat again, We use the Dr. Browns "Natural Flow" bottles - granted we only have 3 (because i normally BF) but they are a life saver, any other bottles he seems to loose everything he eats while hes doing so, which is rather scary. But as to the car it depends, it seems if hes in a good mood when he starts out he will fall asleep - if he's a little grumpy in the beginning he will cry until he spits up, because then he knows i will have to take him out and change him again (we go through 6-8 outfits a day with reflux) and that gets him out of the seat that he didnt want to be in. He just has his mommy wrapped...

*laugh* hopefully this makes sense, i was trying to run it all together in 1 post !

Mommieto2Girls replied: Does he like his baths yet?

Will John be an only child or do you plan to have a whole bunch of children?

What do you want him to be for Halloween?

KatieLeigh79 replied: John hates his baths - well he hates them when anyone else gives them to him, with me he seems to do okay but he cries when he gets out of the water, he doesnt seem to like being naked, which is odd i would run around like that if my body was still as it was before he was born *laugh* As to children at first he wanted only one or two but now we are thinking about maybe up to 3 - i figure that is a good number when i was younger i swore i wanted to have ten because i did daycare a lot - as to halloween im not sure, whatever is simple i think because we dont really have anyone in the area to take him to see that knows us so maybe we will hit up a few houses in town and take some pictures and that will be it, any ideas for an outfit?

Schnoogly replied: How many naps does he take a day?

Have you taken a bath or shower with him?

Does he like being outside?

Is he on any meds for the reflux?

MommyToAshley replied: What does he do that makes you smile?

What color are his eyes?

Has he gotten better about sleeping at night?

KatieLeigh79 replied: We had a tornado touch down 2 miles from the house today (i was in a tornado warning, sound asleep with John upstairs below a large window Boy, makes you feel like a bad mommy...) So thats why I haven't been around for a few hours, nor was our website accessable because a lot of power etc was taken down, so i will answer the last two posts all together again:

As to naps - as long as I can get the little mans eyes to close at least an hour a day im thanking the stars and everything else around them... He doesnt really have a schedule during the day which is strange but he will fall asleep normally only if I am holding him, then will recharge and be wide awake again in like 15 minutes after i set him down...

I haven't had the guts to take a bath with him yet Im to afraid i will drop him or make the water to warm, and showers i won't do yet because he has really bad ear infections already and i am just so afraid he will get water in them and then it will be my fault at making him hurt again and i couldn't bear that idea.

I believe he is a vampire like his daddy though - it seems whenever he goes outside he curls in a ball and hides his eyes from the sun, even in the shade - his dad hates the sun to, i have all the windows wide open in the house then he gets home and it all gets shut back up asap

Right now he is on Zantac for reflux, i think i get most that back after his first feeding though because it seems to be a lot different in texture and the smell it is really probably all of it, but i have tried gas drops to seeing if that wouldn't help as well and each day is different, either its a good day and he keeps half his meals or its a bad day and he ends up in socks and a bib for the entire day because im out of clothing.

Almost everything he does makes me smile, the best noise in the world he makes is when he yawns, he just looks so happy and peaceful at that point in time. He has started to Coo and gurgle and what not as well which is cute, if he isnt screaming but is pouting that is neat to just because I have never seen a little one get their bottom lip out quite that far... and the list goes on and on..

His eyes are baby blue, im so hoping they stay that color, Todds are, mine are hazel and the only thing i hope he doesnt get is both our eyesight.. we are both pretty blind as a bat

As to sleeping at night surprisingly with the mixture of formula and BM it seems i can get him to go at a decent time now, it was strange in fact last night he slept almost all night long, which i couldn't quite understand and panicked and ripped him out of bed but he didn't seem to care if he ate or not at that point in time - so then instantly i believe im starving him and try to get him to eat more and the worries just go on and on *laugh* I think by the time he's 1 i will be in a mental institution.

Heather replied: OMG He is so gorgeous!! Very very beautiful picture!! He is too adorable!!


Does he have a favorite toy?

Does he sleep with you or in his own bed? Does he like his crib??

MommyToAshley replied: Your web site is back up and I got to see the pics.... WHAT A CUTIE!

What is the newest thing/milestone that he does now?

Have you had his picture taken professionally yet?

What are you going to dress him as for Halloween?

Who is his favorite person besides Mommmy and Daddy?