Schneider Baby Story: 16 Weeks (plus)

Well helloo!! Sorry for the slight delay in this post - this has been a crazy busy week!

Layne is growing and developing by leeps and bounds...where do I even begin? To start, we finally got an answer to his fussiness and inability to relax lately...he's TEETHING! I was suspicious that this was happening about a month ago when he started drooling and chewing on his hands like crazy, but was told by everyone that it is "too early" for him to be teething. Well low and behold, last Sunday we were shopping at Sam's Club and a woman behind us in line said, "Looks like your little man is teething." I assumed she was commenting on all of the drool on his chin, but she said she noticed him gums looked red. Fast forward to Thursday night...Layne pulled my finger into his mouth and I felt a little stab...I looked inside and by God...A TOOTH!! I started teething around the same age so it looks like he's taking after me. Poor baby! This is going to be painful for the both of us :(

The morning after I found his first tooth, he reached another milestone I've been waiting for...he found his feet! I've been waiting for this (and promoting it by trying to get his attention) for awhile now, because I think it's so cute when babies grab their feet, and finally during a diaper change on Friday morning he grabbed his little tootsies and just stared at them. Now I can't lay him on his back without his feet shooting into the air into his hands :)

And finally, although he has been giving us little quick giggles here and there, today he gave me his first, long, from the gut laugh when I was wiping down his chest & belly with a washcloth. It was so cute!! He is developing such a personality and it is so fun to talk to him, play with him and make him smile & laugh. I also think we are turning a corner on getting him down to sleep - today it didn't take me more than a couple of minutes to get him down and he didn't put up his screaming fits like he's been doing. I think the fact that his tooth finally broke through is giving him some relief.

This past week was busy because I had meetings in Charleston, SC from Tuesday - Thursday and I was lucky enough to have Layne & Lauri join me in my hotel room. This not only helped the both of us since I'm nursing, but it was also nice to be able to see him & not be away from him (although poor Jared was lonely back home). And on Thursday night, Layne & I dropped Lauri (a.k.a. "Nana) off at the airport to go home :( I can't believe how fast her time here flew by and we are so happy and grateful that she gave up a month of her life at home to be with us - she was such a huge help to Jared and I during my transition back to work, and Layne absolutely fell in love with his Nana. She also taught me a lot about motherhood that I will never forget!

To top it off, we got new next-door neighbors this week, and it just so happens to be a young couple with a six-month old daughter, and the woman also works from home! Lauri met their nanny while she was walking with Layne outside, and after she dropped off some of her famous banana bread, they walked over to introduce themselves. It is crazy how much we have in common, so over the past few days we've been back & forth to say hello & borrow odds & ends, and we have our first get together planned for this week (wine & cards). It will be fun to watch Layne on his first playdate and also to spend some time with others in the same boat that we are! Too bad they havent been here for the past year...it would've been fun to experience all of the craziness with someone.