Balloons

I am so glad the dollar store sells bags of balloons. I have now invested in a quite a few bags, because I can't handle any more 2 hour meltdowns from McKay because he can't have the balloon that is on the TV. Yes, it was funny for the first few minutes, but it got old fast! This boy love's him some balloons!

30 years old

Tonight was a very special night. It is my brother Spencer's birthday, and I decided that we should start celebrating that. After all, it is the day he was brought to this earth, even if he only spent a short amount of time here. I made some pretty amazing, yellow cupcakes with Raspberry butter cream frosting and bought balloons and invited my family over. I also invited my family members out of state to participate with us to make it even more special. We sang Happy Birthday, ate cupcakes, talked of memories and our love for Spencer, and then went outside and let our balloons go, sending them up to Spencer. It was so sweet to watch my 10 yr old niece's eyes tear up. She really didn't know him, as she was just a baby when he passed, but she still has an overwhelming amount of love for him. . I am so greatful for my family, that we have Spencer in heaven, watching over all of us.

Happy Birthday, my angel in heaven!

Like Mother, Like Son

Well, it looks like McKay is following the trend of being my little twin. Along with the good things, he unfortunately got my negatives. Like, my stomach problems. Like I said in my previous post, I have been having lots of them. McKay has as well. After months of problems with his tummy, we finally did a stool sample and cultures of it to make sure there wasn't any parasite, or something like it affecting him. Good news, after 3 days of waiting and one phone call from the lab saying " umm... has McKay traveled out of the country?" I said no and she then said "hmmm.. um, OK" and hung up. Really? they made me wait 2 more days to get an answer while I tortured myself thinking he had some weird parasite you only get when you go out of country. Good thing he doesn't but they sure need to change their procedure of asking that question. Maybe explain why there were to calm the parent down.
Anyways, so after finding out there was nothing they could see wrong (story of my life) they advised I need to start trial and error. Just like I am doing for myself. We are starting by taking him off all dairy. Since, when he was a baby, he had an intolerance to it. So far, we have be doing it for 1 day and I already see a slight difference. yay! I am hoping this is the answer and we don't have to go through much more trial and error. I have also decided that since I haven't started the gluten free, officially yet, I will wait and see if this helps him. If it does, well I will just try it with me since he is having the same problems as me. Hopefully we find an answer for both of us very soon.

Gluten Free

I've been having a lot of stomach problems lately. well, really for the past 8 years. Its just getting worse and I have yet to find the completely reason. I had a colonoscopy yesterday and was hoping it would provide me with some answers, but it didn't. So, I am taking it into my own hands now, especially since the Dr. did not seem interested at all in helping find whats making me so sick.
I decided I am going to start by taking certain foods out of my diet to see if that helps. I have gone gluten free before, for about 3 months. It helped a little, but I don't think 3 months is long enough to help as much I need, so I am going to try it again. This time, for at least 6 months. If I see improvement in my symptoms I will keep going and hopefully over time it will get better and better. If I don't see improvement in 6 months, to a year then I will then start over and try taking something else out of my diet.
I have written food journals, keeping track of what makes me so ill when I eat, and pretty much I have come to the conclusion that everything does. I can't pin point just one item or food group, etc. So this will be the best way I know how to solve the problem. I am going to start doing this cold turkey on Monday. I really hope to see some change and that I start feeling better. I am sure tired of being sick all the time.

Halloween 2011

Halloween was so much fun this year. Yes, McKay doesn't really understand it, but after a few houses he did start to realize if he walks up to the door, someone hands him candy and he walks away. It was pretty dang cute, but as cute as his tiger costume. I wish I took a video of him walking around in it, raar'ing at people. He seemed to love dressing up and he was such a trooper. We had such a long day. We first went to Steve's work to show McKay off to everyone, then we stopped by Grandma My's work to trick-or-treat. We then went to Layton hills mall to trick or treat, and then finally home that night to do a few house around us. It really is just for the parents the first couple years. I just loved watching go to doors and try to take handfuls of candy, get distracted by all the cute pumpkins on porches, and of course the best part for him was chowing down on the candy. We let him have a little, afterall, he did all the work for it, right?

The aftermath of a Kit Kat bar.
He sure loves chocolate, just like his Daddy

Caught red handed, or should I say chocolate handed, sneaking a candy while trick or treating

He know's right where the good stuff is

Aw, proud Daddy and his tiger cub

The Friday before Halloween, Steve's family had a party. It was such a fun night, even though I didn't win at the dance off. It must have just been a bad day for me because I have KILLER dance moves.

We had a contest to see who could make the scariest monster face. I certainly was far from scary. Actually, my whole little family was far from scary. We just can't help but be cute, even when we are trying to be mean.

We topped the party off with the classic game of, eat a donut off a string without using your hands. Most of the peoples fell off before they could finish but it was fun. I went home finding donut in my hair and on my clothes. Hopefully this party will be a tradition because it was such a blast!

5K & 10K

Before I had my foot surgery in August, I had been getting into running again. Well, more like jogging. I did a couple 5K's and loved it. I am slowly getting back into it with working out every day. Mostly doing Zumba. For Thanksgiving this year, Steve, McKay and I, are going to do the Farmington Turkey Leg. It's a 5K and I'm super excited for it. What a great way to prepare for the big dinner you will be having that night. Now we wont have to feel as guilty about what we eat ;)
I received a phone call the other day from my sister in Seattle. She said she was going to fly here in June next year and that she was signing us up for the Wasatch Back Marathon Relay race. I said I'd do it. I have 8 months to train for it... I think that is do-able. There are 3 legs. First leg will run around 6.3 Miles (about a 10K), second leg runs a little over 13 miles. ( half marathon) and the third leg runs around 6.3 miles. So I will be training to do the 10K portion. I am very excited. It's a great goal for me to work towards and I know it will only benefit me, and help me even more on my weight loss journey I've been on. Wish me luck!

Dinosaur Park

Last week, McKay and I went to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden with some family. It was a lot of fun. First thing McKay did when he saw the dinosaurs was "raarrr" it was cute. He did it several more times, quietly throught the park. I will definetly be going back next summer. He will enjoy it a little more.

Zoo

McKay loves animals, so on his birthday we went to the Zoo. It was a lot of fun and the animals were very active. His favorite were the Elephants and the Giraffes but if they had dogs there, he would have been glued to watching them. They seem to be his favorite animal right now. I can't get a word in edge wise with that little boy barking all the time. I love it!

McKay turned 1

We had so much fun celebrating McKay's first birthday. I picked an owl theme and I think it turned out cute. Here is the proof

We fall more in love with this boy every day. I couldn't imagine my life without him in it. I have loved watching the cute personality develop over the past year, and I can tell you, he is going to be super funny like his Mom. I can't wait to see all the fun changes this next year brings!

Growing Up

McKay is one week away from turning 1. I can't believe how fast it went by. I am happy it did though. He is so much fun right now, and I know he will be grow to be more fun.. tougher as well, but still fun. I can't believe how much they change, so quickly.

I'm loving the fun personality McKay is developing. This picture shows it.

I'm loving staying home with him now. My Mom noticed that I seem to be a lot happier ever since I quit work. It's absolutley true. Even on those tough days, where you just want a break.. for even 5 minutes alone in the bathroom, it's still worth every second. I'm thankful things are working out for us right now. I am planning an Owl themed birthday party for McKay. I'm very excited, but have left it all to last minute, so I am not sure how it will all turn out. No matter how put together it is, It will still be fun to get together with family and close friends to celebrate the life of my boy.

I am feeling almost 100% back to normal since my surgery. I hardly even notice the pain anymore, and I am able to do most things. I can't wait until I can start really working out again. I was on such a good streak with weight loss. Luckily, I haven't gained in the past 8 weeks, but I haven't lost either. Im at a totaly of 37lbs now and loving it. I'm down 2 pants sizes and loving that too, and so glad I held on to a few pairs of pants that were too small. I just hate having to buy new clothes in the middle of losing weight.

Progress

I drove the car, and went groccery shopping this morning...with a regular shoe on. I thought this day would never come! I haven't been able to drive in weeks, let alone leave the house much. It felt great!

Hugs and Kisses

I have been at home with McKay for a week now, and just now I'm realizing what a cuddly boy I have. Since I can't do much with him, I just have to let him entertain himself until I'm all healed. Luckily he does pretty well at that. About every 5 minutes, he stops what he is doing and crawls back to me to give me a big hug and kiss. He even makes a soft sigh when he hugs me. Then he goes back to what he was doing, but doesn't forget to come back and give me a hug. Its adorable and I am loving it so much! Like I said before in an earlier post, he is learning new things everyday. He now will pick up cells phones, or toy phones and put them to his ear like he is talking on it, he dances as soon as he hears music and has great rhythm I might add. He can show me where his head is if I ask him, and also his belly button. If we say " where is your button" he is starting to lift up his shirt and giggle. He usually can find his belly button and sticks his finger in it. Of course, these are all things we try to get him to do for other people but no. Kids just wont perform. Oh well, as long as me and Steve get witness it all. I am so in love with this almost 1 yr old boy!

Faith and Family

McKay says your typical Momma and Dada, but as of yesterday he also says ball. Its adorable and I think we had him say it about 50 times in 5 minutes time. We were a little too excited I guess you could say.

I had surgery again on my foot. Stupid cyst just HAD to grow back. But to make sure it doesn't grow back again they did a bone graft with bone from my heal. I'm glad I won't have to go through this again. It was definitely hard the 2ND time around since I have this cute little boy to take care of. Luckily, I have been so blessed and have received so much help with him. Of course my sister in-law, Becky continued to watch him during the day and at night, my sweet husband Steve would come home from working all day and clean up, cook food, bath McKay, put him to bed and finally study. I've received so many wonderful meals and treats. I'm so thankful for everyone. I was able to take a 6 week leave from work, and I am grateful they allowed that since I haven't worked there a year.

This past weekend Steve and I, and a few powers out of our control, decided that right now, my place should be in the home. Taking care of my sweet boy, my husband and my home feels like the right decision right now. I'm excited to be able to be with McKay on a daily basis and help him learn and grow.

Saturday and Sunday morning I was really struggling, trying to figure out what would be best for our family, and I came across this talk by Elder Henry B. Eyring, and it was on the Family Proclamation. In the proclamation it states “mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.” I find that to be 100% true, but found myself questioning, "but how? How in these times, is it possible to make this happen? How do you survive now a days without two incomes?" Elder Eyring goes on to say something that helps me with an answer. He says, "Even the most frugal spending habits and the most careful planning for employment may not be enough to ensure success, but those things could be enough to allow us the peace that comes from knowing we did the best we could to provide and to nurture. Have you noticed husbands and wives who feel pinched for lack of money choose for a solution ways to make their family income keep rising but soon find that the pinch is there whatever the income? " By the end of church on Sunday, I had my answer of where I was supposed to be and this scripture rang true

“I, the Lord, have spoken it, and the Spirit beareth record. Amen” (D&C 59:23–24).


"Because our Father loves his children, he will not leave us to guess about what matters most in this life concerning where our attention could bring happiness or our indifference could bring sadness."
McKay was supposed to come to our family. There is a reason he is here on earth right now. My job, should be home with him and if we do everything the Lord requires of us, and live righteously and within our means, Heavenly Father will bless us and help us make this work. I have faith in his plan and I'm excited to start kinda of a new adventure. I'm going to focus on my family, but do a lot more service for others as well.. oh and attend the temple. Oh how I miss that!!

Grandma My

Isn't my Mom just the most beautiful lady you have ever seen. Inside and out! Yesterday was my mom’s birthday… here’s wishing her a beautiful, delightful day and year. … My mom is a huge and influential force in my life- I am thankful for her tremendous example of strength, service, commitment and love. I appreciate so much all she does for my family. I don't know how I can express how eternally greatful I am for my Mom. I love you mom! You are the greatest mother and grandmother and will always be. Have a wonderful day!

L-O-V-E

I am in love with this boy!

I can't believe he will be 1 in about a month and a half.

Time has really flown by. I'm loving it!

Kickin' the habit

24 years now I have been biting my nails. Its a disgusting habit I just can't seem to kick. Yes, I have tried everything. Even the "bite no more" gross clear polish that everyone swear by. They say once you taste it you will never bite your nail. Yea, not me. I chew right through it.

For my birthday this year I was given a pedicure and manicure. I have incredibly short nails so I got a full set of acrylics put on. No sense in getting my nails done when I don't really have any. I love my acrylics, but they are a lot of maintenance that I just can't keep up with so I took them off on Saturday. My real nails were semi long. Really long in my eyes and very tempting to bite. I don't know what it is about them I find so appealing but I decided that if I filed them and painted them maybe I would find them attractive and not want to bite them? So I went to the store and bought a couple colors of dollar store nail polish and some files and went to it. Wait, I don't even know how to paint my nails. I have never had my nails painted in my life. I have always had them so short since I bite them, that there was no point in painting them. So I called on my neighbor, Emily to paint them for me. Its been almost 48 hours and I haven't even attempted to bite them. So far so good. The polish was cheap and starting to chip off, and the part of my nail that was showing was tempting me so I went and splurged and bought a little more expensive polish to put on tonight so I wouldn't want to bite them. I just really want to stop.. plus I think I made a deal with Steve that we could go on a cruise if I could break this habit. I say I THINK I made that deal because basically I said to him " we are going on a cruise if I break this habit" he said OK.. but he was watching basketball... so not sure if he knows what he agreed to. Cross your fingers that I can continue this. 2 days down... 2 million (give or take a few) more to go.

My how time flies! I sure have neglected my blog, but I guess working full time and being a Mom gives me some what of an excuse, right? And isn't he a cute excuse?

Every day I look at my blog and think "today is the day. Im going to do it. A new blog will be written." but then I look at all that has happend since last time I wrote and it overwhelms me and I say I'll do it it tomorrow. Well, tomorrow has finally come. Lucky you, my 1 maybe 2 readers out there.

Let's get down to business. First of all, My adorable little man is 6 months old now. I can't believe it. He was such a hard baby at first and I prayed every day for it to go by fast. It really didn't go by quickly until I started back at work. Now its flying by. It's so much fun watching him grow and learn new things. It seems like he is doing something new every day now. He is pretty much sitting up on his own now. He falls over ever now and then, but is getting the hang of it. He still hates tummy time. Saying he hates it, is putting it nicely. I'm not sure he will ever like being on his tummy. He has 4 teeth. 3 on bottom and 1 on top. I am pretty sure another one is coming in on top though. He loves to sit in his highchair that we recently bought and loves even more, eating bananas in the highchair. He can't get enough of apples and bananas. Its pretty adorable. But pretty much everything he does is adorable. its a given. He is starting to copy me when I clap my hands, shake my head and stick out my tongue (that he has been doing for a month now) when he gets excited, you know it because he flails (sp?) his arms all over the place. Its hillarious and I love it. Especially when its when I walk in the door or the room and he sees me. It melts my heart. 6 months is my favorite age so far! Im loving it!!

I started back to work on February 28th working for IHC at the Memorial Clinic in Sugarhouse. I love it. I get to work with patients and as crazy as some of them are, they make my day. It can be a very rewarding job. You may ask, "How can you go to work full time and leave that cute boy of yours?" well, this lady right here makes it so much easier for me. Becky Noel is an incredible sister in-law. When I told her I would have to go back to work, without hesitation she offered to watch McKay for us. I can't even tell you the weight that was lifted off my shoulders knowing I would have someone I trusted so much to watch my Son. He adores her and her children and I know they love him too. If he could talk right now he would go on and on about the fun he has with them every day. I am so thankful for their love and support and feel bad for all of you out there who don't have her as your sister in-law. So, because I have someone amazing to watch McKay going to work is much easier for me. I have at least once a week where I feel horrible and just want to quit and stay home with him, but I know this is just temporary and it is what is best for McKay's future. So thank you, Becky!!

And yes, my blog apparently turned into a shout out/thank you to Becky but hey, she deserves it!

HELP!!

Being a Mom is a tough job. We don't get sick days and we don't get much time to ourselves. We are never off duty. Our job is 24 ours a day, 7 days a week. It's so easy for us to put everyone elses needs first and forget about our own. Luckily, I have a great husband who is aware of how hard it is sometimes and is always willing to let me have my much needed "mommy break."
Today is one of those days. I had to wake McKay up a little bit early today to go visiting teaching. I thought it would be no big deal. He was very good until the second I got him in the car to go back home. He was screaming so hard that I thought his head was going to pop off. I got home within minutes and he let me have it. He was so mad at me that he hasn't stopped screaming all day long( and I not exageratting one bit) I finally got him to wear himself out that he went to sleep about 10 minutes ago. Maybe a nap will be just what he needed. It sure would help me.

I know everyone says that if you are upset or tense, the baby can sense that and it makes them more upset or tense. On days like today, I just can't help but cry I try to set him down and go to another room when I am upset but I can't always do that. What do you do to help calm yourself down when your baby is screaming at the TOP of their lungs and there is nothing you can do to soothe them? Any advice would be helpful.. probably would have been helpful for me earlier today because I'm about ready to run away.

Before I had McKay I worked. I worked a lot. In fact, this is the first time I have not worked since I was 15 years old. I really do enjoying working, but have loved staying home with McKay these past 4 months. When we made the decision that we were going to try to make it work so I could stay home I decided that I needed to do something still for me, that would help me not go crazy. I decided on service. I don't think there is anything out there that makes me more happy then serving others. I wasn't sure exactly how or what I would do but I knew that once McKay was born, I really need to bring more service into our lives since I wouldn't be working. I would love to attend the temple more, but that really is not much of an option for me. Its hard to find time ( I know, terrible excuse) when I have this little boy to take care of. So, I decided I would use my skills to serve others. I love to cook/bake. It relaxes me. I have made it a personal goal of mine to provide a meal, or a treat, or somethng for a neighbor or a friend at least 2 times a week. Nothing big or fancy, but just something that would help them out. I might as well, I have to make dinner for my family anyways.

I think service is such an important thing. Even if it's something as little as making cookies for your neighbor, just because. But can you do too much? I have started to feel that some people may get annoyed with me offering to help them with things. For me, even just offers of help make me feel better but maybe I am doing too much. I don't know... maybe I am crazy

Recently we decided it would be best for our family to have me work part time again. It would be temporary until we get a few things worked out. I have mixed feelings about it. I have LOVED staying home with McKay. Its been so fun to watch him grow and learn new things, but I have missed working. I was offered a job yesterday with IHC. I would work part-time and it feels right. I know this is what I am supposed to do. So maybe this is the solution to my feelings about serving people "too much" Now that I am will be working, I might not have as much time. We'll see how it goes

If McKay could talk, he would probably be singing the primary song " I'm so glad when Daddy comes home" I don't think anything makes this little boy happier, than seeing his Daddy. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my two favorite boys, smiling together

4 Months

McKay had his 4 month dr. apt last Friday. The stat's are in. Drum roll please..........

16 and 1/2 lbs

27 Inches long ( but his leg wasn't stretched out all the way, so I think he is taller than that)

The Dr. showed us a chart at which he was at the average height and weight of a 7 month old. Its weird to me because he doesn't look that big, unless he is by another baby his age. Then I can tell how much bigger he really is.

He is really starting to chunk up, and I am lovin' it. He's still sporting the double chin (possibly tripple chin?) and his things and arms are getting rolls. I love chunky thighs, and so does Steve. hence why he married me ;)

Anyways..accomplishments this month?

he has OFFICIALLY found his voice, and lets us know it. He loves to scream and then smile right after to see what your reaction was. and if you scream back at him he think's it is a competition and screams even louder, accompanied by and even bigger smile. That is my favorite thing during the day when he wont nap.

Yes, on to naps. Not going to well. He is starting to not even want to nap on me, so instead when he is tired he just screams and cries. And not the good scream I was just talking about. No, this is the ear drum bursting, heart wrenching scream. That is NOT my favorite. Oh, but he is just so cute.

As of this morning, he has 2 bottom teeth. They haven't just poked their way through, they are fully emerging into the world. So now I know why he had such a runny nose, slight fever, and his sleep patterns have been messed up. Teething. At least I know he wasn't sick then. That was a worry of mine. Now that those 2 teeth are in, it's like it stopped the never ending drool fountain that flowed constantly from him. Now, I know that is only temporary, but at least I know that when it starts up again it means more teeth. I've been told that getting teeth at 4 months is pretty early. Usually they get them starting around 6 months. I guess McKay wants to speed through this baby time, just as quickly as his Momma does.

The poor thing is still battling with Acid Reflux, but its being maintained a lot better this month. we had him switched to Prevacid and added Rice Ceral to his bottles. Who knew that Rice Cereal could do so much for a baby with AR. I know that when I don't add the Rice, he throws up 10 times worse. we learned that the hard way.

This week he started holding his bottle when I feed him. He has a tight hold on it and pulls it in and out of his mouth... once it's completely out, he can't figure out the coordination to get it back in there, but he will soon, I'm sure of it. Along with holding the bottle he can hold pretty much any toy and then it is instantly in his mouth, if he can fit it in. If he can't he gets mad and throws it. How do I know he get's mad? Cause he is just like me, and has a certain " mad" look that you just can't hide.

The Dr. says we can start feeding him cereal and some baby food. I'm excited for this. I think he will really love eating other foods than formula. he already knows how to handle the spoon well becuase I was having to give him medicine from a spoon. Anytime one is even near him, you will find him with his mouth wide open. Runs in the family I guess.

It's been a rollercoaster 4 months, but I feeling it getting better each month. Which is fantastic news for me!

**Pictures to come of him at 4 months. I just need to locate my camera. **

McKay is napping right now. Napping in his crib.. not on his Mommy. This is amazing. I mean, it's only been 45 minutes so far, but that is still amazing. It only took us 5 days of screaming for him to learn that he had to soothe himself to sleep. So since the last part of last week and today he goes down barely fussing at all. I'm lovin' it! I was able to clean, get stuff ready for dinner tonight, schedule my church bldg for my calling, and now blog. What a perfect Monday. And since I am feeling good today, I thought I would make your Monday a little more perfect too just by sharing pictures of McKay. He is just so adorable!!

He tried a Bumbo at our friends house and seemed to really like it. (bottom picture) so we found one for him to keep on KSL and it sure is a life saver. I can get so much done now that he will sit up in that. I think it makes him feel more like us, adults.

he is old enough to be playing in a toy like this? Wow! Love it! Maybe this week he will stay in it longer than 10 minutes :)

My little Newsie! This is my favorite outfit of his right now. I just wish the hat fit him a little better.

Finally, I caught his smile on camera. It's a little blurry, but still melts my heart

3 Months!

My little boy is 3 months old now. Well, technically it is on the 3rd, but who knows if I will have time to blog any time soon so I am doing it early.

Over the past month it has been so fun to see the changes happening. He smiles a whole lot. Mostly in the morning when he first wakes up and after he eats. He is laughing too. I used to have to work so hard to just get a tiny smile out of him and now he is smiling and laughing all the time. I love it. It certainly does make those hard days we still have, a lot easier when he is happy.

He has moved up to eating 6oz every 3 hours during the day, and at night we just feed him 6 oz when he wakes. Sometimes its every 3 hours, sometimes he goes 6 hours, and SOMETIMES like the past 3 nights he sleeps comepletely through the night until 9 am. YAY!! I am loving it. I don't know if its a change permanently (probably not) but I am hoping its a change at least for a few more nights. It's been so nice.

He is still not napping for me during the day. Actually, he will take small cat naps only if I am holding him. I can not put him down when he is asleep or he wakes up instantly. I wish I could get that figured out. It would be nice to have even just 1 nap during the day where he was sleeping in his crib just so I could feel productive.

McKay can roll over.. and has been able to since 2 weeks old. He loves to stand, with you hold him up of course, and sit. If he is laying flat on his back, he will always try to sit up and has accomplished just that several times this week. Seems weird to me for a 3 month old to be pulling themselves up and sitting up, but he does it. If I could figure out how to put a video on this thing, I would show you the proof. He is pretty amazing!

He weighs about 16lbs now and is no longer fitting in his 3-6 month clothes mostly due to his height which is 27-28inches now. Before too long he will need a new car seat.

McKay will copy me when I stick my tongue out, he is able to grab onto a few of his toys and when he plays on his mat, there is a zebra that hangs above him. He must not be too happy with him as he will stare the zebra down and then start hitting him over and over with his hands. It's actually pretty cute to watch.

We definetly can't leave him alone on his boppy on the couch or bed anymore as he scoots his legs and bum and could manage to fall off pretty easily, in a matter of seconds if we weren't watching. He loves to make us nervous.

McKay still has acid reflux pretty bad. He has been on Zantac for it, but is now taking Prevacid in addition to the Zantac and we added rice cereal to his bottles. They say that helps with the throwing up and it sure does. It has helped a lot this last week since we started using it. It's nice to not have to go through 5 outfits an hour.

He has his on and off weeks where some are more pleasant than others, but overall McKay at 3 months is a happy baby and I am really enjoying being a Mom to him.