Thumb Alert

Oh yes we have a thumb sucker on our hands! This morning after Sawyer woke up I caught her going to town on her thumb. She had found her thumb a couple times prior to this incident but this time it was serious. I need to google "How to stop thumb sucking" because I am not sure I like this new talent. It is a toss up for me between having to get braces to correct buck teeth or fighting the battle of weening off of a pacifier. A certain sibling of ours was attached to their thumb until the age of 11. Lets hope that if she continues down this thumb sucking road that she will brake the habit long before her 11th birthday.

San Diego

Sawyer and I had a short vacation in San Diego this week. Brad was in Catalina with some of his students from work for 4 days. It was the first all girls road trip! Sawyer did not make much conversation.... she slept the whole time ; ). The newest addition to Sawyer's bag of talents is a very....very....I mean very high pitched scream. It is the ear piercing kind of scream. We showed daddy this new talent as soon as he got home. She is still cute even though she is able to incapacitate you with a yell. Sawyer continues to ham it up whenever we visit family and friends with her crooked smile. Here are some pictures of Sawyer visiting with aunts and uncles at a friends birthday party.

The vaccine debate

Today Brad and I took Sawyer for her 2 month check up. She weighed in at 11 lbs 5 oz, which is a 3 lb weight gain from the last visit. She grew 3 inches and now is a whopping 22 inches long! I was a little anxious for this appointment for a couple reasons. One was her weight gain. I just never know how her weight gain is going because we don't have a scale at home. I am always a little nervous that nursing is going to be enough, but thus far we have been successful. Secondly, is the all controversial vaccinations. I have been reading a book called The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert W. Sears. A friend of mine that is also pregnant recommended the book to me. She found the book (unfortunately ; 0 ) in the quarterly Biolan magazine. The book is extremely informative and not bias. It is a quick read and I highly recommend it. Anyhow, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) recommends that a two months infants receives the Polio, HIB (which causes meningitis), Pneumococcal ( which cause pneumonia and meningitis), Rotavirus ( which causes diarrhea and vomiting) and lastly DTaP (which is Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis) vaccines. That is a lot! That would have been 3 shots and one oral vaccination. So I went to our appointment semi-ready to tell the doctor what I wanted to do about Sawyer's vaccinations. Based on my research the Polio, Rotavirus and Pneumococcal are all vaccines that can be avoided. Polio has not shown up in the U.S in 25 years. Check that one off the list. Rotavirus and Pneumococcal are up in the air for me. Sawyer is at low risk for catching both because she is breast fed and not in day care. Pneumococcal is rare but is most common in infants and children. Rotavirus is almost certainly going to come in contact with Sawyer it just depends how bad she reacts to it. You may be asking, "So what's the big deal?" Well it is the ingredients that go into each vaccine that make the big stink. Most vaccines are made with aluminum and other controversial ingredients. It is highly recommend to not get more then two vaccines at one time that contain aluminum. Some of the other ingredients are cow fetus serum, monkey kidney cell and formaldehyde to list a few. Interesting right?

So I decided just to get Sawyer vaccinated for DTaP. The only vaccine that she really needed was the P in the DTaP, but the Pertussis is not made without the D and T. It has been very interesting to research about all the different vaccines and way they are recommended by doctors and the CDC.

The one shot went well and Sawyer only cried for a minute...she is tough like her mom, not her dad who almost fainted watching Sawyer get the shot.. jk. Above is a picture of Sawyer at her 1 month appointment in her gown. It is kinda funny that they ask a baby to wear a gown, but she looked very cute even though her face displays unhappiness.

Cooing

Sawyer has become way more interactive lately. It takes her some time in the morning, like an adult, to wake up. She looks dazed, like an adult, for the first 20-30 minutes of the morning then comes into her own. She then starts to do her morning poop dance. She jiggles, smiles, makes very adorable cooing sounds and then follows it all up with blowing out her diaper. A smile which displays victory and satisfaction comes across Sawyers face which communicates to me that she is ready to be changed. It is all very amusing in real person. Here is a video clip of Sawyer smiling

Little Sawyer

I wanted to start blogging about Sawyer so that I had a means to share updates about her. She has brought such joy to our lives and continues to amaze Brad and I. She is such a good baby! We recently flew up to Washington for vacation with our closest friends and on the plane ride she slept the entire time. We could not even wake her up to feed her! We are so thankful for all the family and friends that have showered Sawyer with love and care already. She is extremely blessed to have grandparents and many uncles and aunts to love her.

Recently Sawyer has been more interactive with Brad and I. She smiles a ton and is talking up a storm. We gave her the nickname "Frank" because she eats all the time. Frank comes from the shamefully funny movie Old School (Frank the Tank, Frank the Tank).

Here are some photos of Sawyer with her wonderful uncles and aunts in WA.