5 Months Old

Remington is 5 months old today! I can't believe it's almost been  half a year! There aren't many specific milestones for this month, so here's all I found.

Milestones this month

• Your baby is able to reach accurately for an object. - He's so good at this, he's getting much better at his hand/eye coordination.
  
  
• He can hold his head steady when sitting upright. - He's been doing this for quite a while now.
  
  
• Baby can raise his chest with arm support while lying on his stomach. - Sure can.
  
  
• He can roll over in one direction. - I've seen him roll over from stomach to back twice.
  
  
• Baby can grasp a rattle. -He really likes playing with rattles and links.
  
  
• He pays attention to very small objects. - I guess so. We haven't really given him very small things.
  
  
• Baby squeals with delight. -Always, and it's super cute.
  
  
• He spontaneously smiles. -It's adorable!
  
  
• Baby mimics sounds and gestures. -Kind of. He will imitate you when you copy the sounds he makes.
  
  
• He turns towards the source of a sound or voice. -Yep, he's very interested in watching people.
  
  
• Baby gets attention by babbling. -That and screaming, ha.
  
  
• He makes different sounds for different needs.- Either that or we can tell his cries apart now.

 

These pictures are of Remington's first time in grass ever. He wasn't too sure about it.

i ♥ faces: Dramatic Black & White

March 29th - Photo Theme “Dramatic B&W”

Remington is so adorable when he smiles. Baby smiles are just so full of pure joy. They don't hold anything back. They're not constrained by social conformity. It's just natural and free to be given to anyone. I love it, I love my baby's smiles.

Rockstar

You know, I've wondered why everyone wants to be a ROCKstar. I mean, when people want to be famous, they talk about being like a rockstar, not a countrystar, popstar, rapstar, or even I wanna live like an actor. Instead, it's always a rockstar. Personally I think that's awesome. I LOVE rock music, so being a rockstar is cool. Now, I realize that living like a rockstar would be, well, dangerous at times, but it seems cool when you're young and don't care.

Anyway, if you've been following for a while, or know us personally, you've seen that we dress Remington in Rockstar clothes. Why, you ask? Well, because it's awesome! No, it's better than the other options. As far as baby boy clothes go, there's about 4 options: sports, animals, cars/transportation, and rockstar. Landon hates sports, so that's out. We do dress him in some animal clothing, but I'm not a fan of the real cutiesy stuff for boys. Cars/transportation are cool as long as it's motorcycles (gotta be like daddy), but Landon is very picky about motorcycles clothes. He hates Harleys, so the motorcycle can't look like one. And overall, rockstar is just so much better. Besides, that's the kind of music we like. After all, Remington's first concert (in utero- ha, that's a Nirvana album) was Cruefest 2 with Motley Crue, Theory of a Deadman, and Godsmack. I can't wait to take him to his first real concert. I don't really expect him to grow up to be a real rockstar, but to have a love of music...that's all I ask--as long as it's not country (that sort of stuff won't be allowed in this house).

That was Solid, dude!

We tried solid food with Remington for the first time today! We've added a bit of rice cereal to his bottles since he just turned 4 months, but today we tried rice cereal by itself. Here are the pictures of the incident.

He doesn't know what he's in for. Oh, and look, he's clean, that won't last long.

His very first bite.

What's this spoon thing doing in my mouth?

He likes it. It took a bit to learn how to use his tongue to keep the food in. (Photo edit with some PW actions)

What mom? You always have to have the camera around. (Photo edit with PW actions)

He started getting mad. The bottle is much easier.

He's really getting messy now.

I can do it myself, dad.

What a mess. :)

Someone needs a bath now.

He's had enough.

You Capture- A Moment

 This week's You Capture theme is A Moment. I didn't have a moment to spare in order to edit any of these pictures, so here they are anyway.

Remington has been teething, so getting a moment of quiet is rare. Here was a moment of that quietness and a moment of sunshine on my beautiful baby's head.

We finally got some warm weather (for a day, then it went back to being rainy and cold), so we took Remington for a walk in the park. It's only his second time there. It was another moment of peace, since on the walk was the longest he'd been happy and content all day. Darn you teeth!

 For more moments, check out I Should Be Folding Laundry:

Health Care Bill thoughts

3/23/10
I don't often write about news stories, or politics (or anything worth while, ha). However, this new health care bill that has been signed today is something to discuss. I am by no means anywhere close to being an expert on this, so just take it as an everyday citizen and her views on what's happening and nothing more.

Here's what USA Today says on how it will effect people:

"Poor adults will get Medicaid. Low-income families will get federal subsidies to buy insurance. Small businesses will get tax credits. Children will be able to stay on parents' policies until they turn 26. Seniors will gain additional prescription-drug coverage. People with medical conditions will gain peace of mind because insurers have to cover them.

On the other hand, the wealthy will pay higher taxes to help finance the 10-year, roughly $940 billion cost. Businesses with 50 or more workers will have to insure them or pay a penalty. Individuals, too, will have to pay a fine if they don't buy insurance. Premiums could rise for some people. Seniors with Medicare Advantage policies could lose those plans or pay more to keep them."

Like they've broken it into the good and bad, I also see benefits and cons to the bill. Mostly, I'm glad that people with pre-existing conditions will be covered. It's unfair to those people when they can't get insurance, even though some of them can afford it. It's also good, that more low income families will be able to get some kind of insurance coverage (they'll be forced to- but we'll get to that issue later). I also think it's great that you can stay on your parent's insurance until you're 26. That means that I would've just stopped being covered (I am 26). I've only been out of school for 2 years, but I was uninsured since age 21 (I think- not positive on this), until I got a job. If I would've gotten sick during grad school, I would have had no way to pay the medical bills. I was still in school, and didn't have a real job yet (which meant I was broke).

The bad things about this plan are number one, everyone will be forced to buy health insurance or pay a fine. This is bad for people right on the edge of getting medicaid, or other federal assistance. If you just make enough to not get help, you'll be needing help after you have to start paying for insurance you can't afford. And, I think that many people will be unable to afford health insurance after this. It does say, "Lower-income people who don't qualify for Medicaid will get federal subsidies to help them buy coverage from new state insurance exchanges — organized marketplaces that encourage competition." This will help, but I'm sure there will be people who fall through the cracks. High income people will have to pay for all the uninsured who will now be insured:

"For people at those income levels, all their investment earnings will be taxed 3.8%, marking the first time the hospital insurance tax has hit non-wage income. The other major tax increase hits the most generous health plans. Those don't apply just to upper-income people. State employees and other union workers have won excellent health coverage in recent years rather than big pay increases. Starting in 2018, family insurance plans valued at more than $27,500 will pay a 40% tax above that level."

The last too sentences really caught my eye, because I'm a state employee, and Landon gets insurance through his union. Yikes! We're not in that high income level (Single people earning more than $200,000 and couples starting at $250,000), but I think it's unfair that those people will be taxed on their investment earnings. I think that if you've made good investments, then good for you, keep that money. 

Surely, the insurance companies are going to have to raise rates to offset this plan. I know I heard something about premium caps, but still. I'm worried, because right now, both Landon and I have insurance through our employers and we're able to afford it. However, if rates are raised enough, it will be difficult. That and higher taxes will be tough. Businesses (with 50 or more workers) will have to insure their employees, which may lead to layoffs, because the business can't afford to insure their employees. I have also heard that states are not happy with these federal demands, because it will cost them money. This is not good! The state (Kansas) is already broke and cutting everything (which means, they cut education funding, which means my job can be in jeopardy). But, I'll save education funding for another post.

Who knows what's all going to happen because of this. I just hope, we'll still have good insurance and don't go broke paying for it.

And, I can't have a post without a cute photo of Remington, so here you go:

i ♥ faces: Angles

I haven't entered i ♥ faces in a while, but let's try this one. It's not the greatest photo, but I like how the lighting is on Remington's face. It's an unique angle as he's looking at the mirror on the exersaucer. Here's my entry for the Angles theme.

Adventures in Baby Vaccination

 03/20/10
Yesterday, we took Remington in for his 4 month shots. This post notes my thoughts on vaccinations.

Anyway, I didn't know how Remington would react to this round of shots since he's older. The first time, at 2 months, he cried a little bit, but calmed right down with a pacifier. This time, however, I came prepared. We gave him a little bit of Tylenol 30 minutes before hand, and brought his bottle. He took the rotavirus slowly. It's an oral vaccine and you could tell it tasted bad. Then came the shots. I gave him the bottle, partly to wash down the rotavirus stuff and to help soothe him for the shots. He cried a little for the first one, but quickly calmed with the bottle. Then, the second shot came. The nurse warned me that it would hurt him worse than the first. He was stuck with the needle and cried for quite awhile. I tried to get him to suck on the bottle, or recognize that it was in his mouth, but he was not having it. He finally took it and calmed down. By the time we left the exam room, he was smiling again.

Warning: Part of the following may come off as snobby, but please read on.

I wish we were able to get these shots at our regular doctor, but for some reason, we have to go to the county health clinic. This is not a place I want to take my baby to. I'm sorry if I sound rude, but the quality of people who frequent that place are not the kind I want around my son. Sitting in the the waiting room bugs me. A waiting room at any doctor office is probably full of all kinds of nasty germs, but a health clinic just seems worse. Also, the posters in the exam room are irritating. I'm sorry, but I don't need to know (by a posting on the wall) that I can only have a 3 month supply of birth control pills. I also don't need to hear about how a real man steps up and accepts that the kid is his (another poster). I feel like the nurses and staff assume things about us if we take our baby to the county health clinic. They probably think we're some high school aged punk kids, who got knocked up with a baby, still live with our parents, and don't have jobs or insurance. But, then maybe I'm also assuming that those kind of people are the only ones who go to the health clinic, when obviously that is not the case. I know, I'm being a bit hypocritical here, but this is just how I feel about it.

Landon and I have worked hard to get to where we are, and I truthfully feel like a county health clinic is beneath us. We are in our mid-twenties, well educated (I have my masters degree), have good jobs, insurance, were married two years before having a child, and try to do a good job raising him.

What made this trip to the clinic worse was the trouble we're having with Landon's insurance. It has taken forever for us to get Remington enrolled. They haven't paid for any doctor visits, vaccines, or even the hospital stay when he was born. We're having to pay for most of these doctor bills out of pocket, which is super difficult. My insurance is good, but it costs more to have Remington on my insurance rather than Landon's. So, because of this mess, the health clinic looks at us like we don't have insurance and are trying to get out of paying the bills some how.

I truly don't know how people pay hospital bills without insurance. I have some friends who are in this situation, and if you're reading this, how do you do it? How are you able to pay hospital bills or well baby checks? I guess this is why there's such a big deal being made about the health care crisis and system.

We're starting to get the insurance mess worked out, and in the mean time are having to deal with a very unhappy baby. Remington ran a mild fever for part of the day yesterday, and he was very sleepy and irritated for the entire day after the shots (which were at 9am). He's done a bit better today, but he's still sleepy and acts like he doesn't feel well. It literally breaks your heart to hear his sad cry. I have trouble holding back tears when he cries like that (and I don't ever cry). So, heres hoping to a better day today.

You Capture- Reaching

 03/18/10This week's You Capture theme is Reaching.

Remington loves his little parrot link toy, and is always reaching for it.

 

Here is Remington reaching for safety after he decided he was done with our photo session.

 

Then, he reached for the camera strap. Don't his eyes look cool? They're very gray.

I've only seen him roll over twice, but we've been putting him on the floor a lot more so that he might roll over again. He would do better if he didn't reach his arms out so much. He's wearing green for St. Patrick's day (which was yesterday). Gotta love the drool too.

For more reaching out, Check out I Should Be Folding Laundry.

Videos of Remington

I've finally figured out how to get these videos to upload here. The first one is Remington laughing as we put his feet by his mouth. The second video is of him playing in his exersaucer. At the end, he freaks out after Landon presses the button on the bus. Pretty funny.

Who Does Remington Look Like?

Compare these pictures. Does Remington look more like Landon?

Or does he look more like me?

What do you think?