September 24, 2013:

RJ and I are currently on the floor in the living room. RJ is batting all his lil toys around while grabbing his toes. He's making all sorts of grunts and gagging noises. Yes, I have to remind him over and over again not to gag himself. He loves to talk now and make himself known. This morning I had a couple plastic rings on his mat. While I wasn't looking he put one around each arm. It was hilarious!! What a goof ball. Later on he had taken them both off. He's getting better coordinated with his hands. This morning after heating up his bottle I was picking it up to carry both him and the bottle up the stairs. He instinctively grabbed the bottle in both his hands and helped me. It was so cute. He started this week to deliberately try and hold the bottle and bring it to his mouth. He gets frustrated when he can't get it right and I end up feeding him. :)

Right before bedtime on his changing table he talks up a storm. Typically every other night is bath time. He has started in the past couple weeks to start talking like crazy during the bath. He wiggles to the right side of the bath chair and hangs his feet over the edge and kicks in the water. He grabs his feet and makes all sorts of noise. He's getting so expressive.

Well I have officially put the pumping station to sleep. That segment of my mommy duties has come to an end. The lil guy has stopped completely and I value my time with him during the day and sleep at night. I'm very thankful for the time I was able to give him all the good nutrients needed at the beginning to help him grow. I'm blessed to have experienced the breastfeeding of our son as well. Here's hoping next time my milk will come in quicker and more plentiful  and I will be able to keep up with our lil one. Don't worry, we are not planning on trying any time soon. I haven't fully recovered form this pregnancy/delivery.

We had a Grad Clinic appt last week. It went very well!! We saw a new doc, Dr. Cunningham, who fills in sometimes. He doesn't do wards at the hospital anymore. I was super impressed with him and his knowledge. He had excellent bedside manners. He jumped from gaining about 16 grams per day to 24 grams per day!! He is almost touching the bottom of the regular curve. His head is on the bottom of the regular curve now and his height is right on track. Next month will be a big visit. RJ will have a lot of testing done for developmental stuff. Also we will get a plan for starting solids. Remember me writing how they start meats first, well we will have a vegetarian menu for RJ. :) I got the reasoning behind no jumpers/bumbo seats/exerciser seats/etc. Turns out they are not recommended for RJ period since he was born so early. It would be ok if he was 34 wks or beyond. He has a lot of catching up to do with is pelvic growth and those contraptions cause his legs to be in a splayed position which can hinder proper growth and affect his walking later. So, the play mat will be his best friend for now! They will do extensive developmental testing again at 1,2, & 3 years.

RJ is around the 12 lb mark and doing great. Now that the weather is changing  and we are entering the sniffle season, we need extra prayers that RJ will stay free of sickness!! We don't want our lil one getting any bad infections.

Thanks again for all your prayers, love, and support!! We greatly appreciate them all.