Eight months old

Am I seriously writing a post for my eight month old baby?  This little man continues to exhaust me, but he makes me happier than I ever could have imagined.  He is funny and so full of personality.  He has a bit of a temper when he's tired or doesn't get what he wants right away, but is generally very happy.  He's independent in the sense that he will play by himself, even now that he's started to experience separation anxiety.  As I write, he's on the floor by himself and has been playing with some toys, putting small pieces of plastic and paper into his mouth cleaning my floor, and is now chewing on a book.  His big sister never played by herself when we wanted her to.

In the last week we've seen Baby Boy start to pull up on everything he can find--his sister's train table, chairs, fingers, and pants and surprisingly he can get down okay, too.  He's gotten faster and faster with his crawling and is finally playing with his sister by chasing her around.  Around seven months old he started banging together everything he grabbed and just recently that turned into clapping.  He's also started picking up things and holding his arm up in the air--this has only ended in him dropping something on his head once...so far.

We started giving Baby Boy vegetables around 6.5 months (maybe closer to 7) and he's now been through all of the veggie purees that we'll give him (sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, green beans, and peas) and is also eating finger foods.  Just today he had Cheerios after eating puffs.  He's also fed himself mashed potatoes, which was messy, but he loved it.  We've also been giving him pasta, green beans and peas whole and letting him feed himself.  It's really nice when he can feed himself parts of dinner instead of him eating solely purees so that we can eat our dinner.  The only thing that he didn't love was green bean puree, but seems to eat whole green beans just fine, so we'll stick with that.  Within the next few days we'll start him on fruit and pray that he doesn't stop eating his veggies.  I'm also going to give him some beans that we're having for dinner this week.

Baby Boy has been sporadically using consonants when he babbles, but we haven't heard it a ton yet.

He still loves Itsy Bitsy Spider and I think he's going to be our music lover.  Baby Girl knows song lyrics really well, but Baby Boy enjoys pretty much any music you play for him.

He still has just four teeth, but has been chewing on EVERYTHING over the last week or so.  I don't think I've seen a child put so much into their mouth.  When you snuggle him he'll bite on your shirt.  Whatever he's playing with goes directly into his mouth.  We can't really read him books because he just wants to eat them.

His sleep sucks.  Serious suckage.  I asked The Hubby how many times he thinks the baby was awake last night and we were both pleased to determine that it was only three times.  Let me say it again: ONLY THREE TIMES.  At 8 months old.  Obviously our standards have been sufficiently lowered.

Statistics:
6-9 or 9 month size clothes
Size 3 diapers
No shoes yet, but when I held a pair of size 5s up to his feet, they were only maybe a size too big
More hair than his sister had at a year old :)

Likes:
Chewing, remote controls, facing outward, eating finger foods, music, anything his sister is doing, brooms, nursing, sleeping in bed with mommy and daddy so he can nurse all night long, being upright, getting into everything that he shouldn't be touching, Christmas ornaments

Dislikes:
Going to sleep, being ignored, being tired, being hungry, having his diaper changed (or anything that requires him to hold still), waiting, his car seat

7 months development, cont.

So I was hanging out with my boy and realizing that there were things I'd wanted to mention that I didn't.

Right around 7 months we switched to 6-9 month size clothing and you know what? It fit really well. The 3-6 wasn't ridiculously small, but I had so much 6-9 month stuff with long sleeves that the change in seasons necessitated the shift. I'm trying to decide if the sizes are really close or if he had a growth spurt. Probably a little of both.

In the last few days we started giving Baby Boy whole canned green beans. I wanted him to start with something pretty mush-able, so even though I don't love canned veggies, that's what we decided on. He didn't like them at first, but after just 3 nights, his pincer grasp is developing nicely and he actually reaches for them. We still give him purées in the evening and are trying to figure out when to work in more food throughout the day.

Baby Boy is solidly in size 3 diapers. We made the switch a couple of months ago. I have a feeling hell be in them for a long time.

Around 6.5 months, Baby Boy became proficient at getting himself from a crawling position to sitting upright. He can now get to sitting from his back, something I don't think I can do :)

Now I'm going to save this entry as a draft to make sure I'm not forgetting something....

...and I remembered something else :)

Right around 7 months Baby Boy started to bang everything together.  He picks up blocks and bangs them together, tonight he picked up a book and tried to bang the chair with it.

And now I think I need to be done or I'm going to be logging things here that belong in an 8 month post!

7 Month Developments

At seven months old, my little man is really starting to show his personality.  He's really a happy kid almost all of the time, but will let you know when he's displeased, like when he's being put into his car seat.  He doesn't cry, but will squirm and growl at you.  He also uses his growling for when he's excited sometimes.  Baby Boy prefers to be held facing away from you so he can see the world around you and when he gets excited (like when the sitter's kitty comes into the room), his arms and legs start moving everywhere all at once!

As reported a few weeks ago, teeth #3 and #4 (top middle) came through in mid-November.  You can definitely see them both now and it's really changing the way he looks.  He's still adorable, but it makes him look more like a little boy than like a baby.  I'm not ready to lose the little baby parts of him!

Over the last month, Baby Boy has gradually been doing more crawling.  He was a proficient army crawler, but in the last few days has really started to crawl on all fours and will go all the way across the room.  He still has moments where traditional crawling isn't fast enough for him, so he'll growl, drop to his belly and kick and wiggle, then drag himself the rest of the way across the room.

Baby Boy's favorite things are: his sister, Itsy Bitsy Spider, mommy, nursing, cords (computer cords, vacuum cleaner cords, etc.), paper to eat, pureed food, splashing in the bath

Baby Boy's least favorite things are: laying still for diaper changes, getting strapped into his carseat, sleep

I mentioned the growling, but Baby Boy also expresses himself by blowing raspberries all over the place.  He can blow raspberries for the entire car ride to or from the sitter's house, which is close to 20 minutes long.  If he's not blowing raspberries, he's shrieking happy shrieks.  We call it his pterodactyl call.

Sleep is a struggle.  I still mean to do an entire blog post about how horrific his sleep is.  Let's just say that at this point he's still waking at least 4 times per night.  And not calmed without nursing.  But at least he grins at me when The Hubby brings him into our bedroom....

Lastly, just after turning 7 months old Baby Boy started trying to pull up.  The first time I saw it, I came into the room to find him with his hands on the edge of the toy box, up on his knees.  Unfortunately, our floor is laminate and I was afraid he'd slip in his jammies, so I got him down from there.  I don't think he's attempted that since then.  However, he has pulled up on The Hubby--he'll crawl over to him, crawl onto The Hubby's belly, and pull himself to standing while leaning on The Hubby's belly.  He's done it multiple times.  Just this morning I found him trying to pull up on his bathtub, only to have it topple over because it isn't very heavy.

Crazy baby...will you stop trying to grow up so fast?

Making Memories

I've gotten really bogged down in the time and energy it takes to be a parent to more than one kid.  It's been a frustrating, exhausting six months.  But the last two evenings (ahem...over a month ago...) I had experiences with my big girl that helped me remember why I enjoy being a mom.

On Wednesday night (10/17/12) after I nursed Baby Boy and put him to bed, I asked Baby Girl if she wanted to go take a walk with me.  It was only about 7:20 and she'd been heading to bed around 7:40.  She also took a nap at the sitter that day, so I knew she'd be okay staying up a bit later.  It was gorgeous outside (highs near 80 in late October in Ohio just don't happen very often).  She was really excited and got her Crocs on in record time.

We took a stroll up the sidewalk until we heard a bug chirping.  We stopped to look for it and finally found it and just stood, watching, for a couple of minutes.  I explained how the cricket made its noise and she could see its legs twitching.  We walked down the sidewalk, hand in hand, talking about mundane things.  She's getting bigger and I know soon she isn't going to want to hold mommy's hand all the time.  We got down the block and turned back, pausing at our cricket to see whether it was still there.  It was.

When we got back to our house, we sat in the driveway and looked at the stars.  She doesn't get to stay awake long enough to see nighttime very often, so she hasn't had much experience in stargazing.  We talked about the shapes up in the stars and just snuggled on the ground.  It felt so good to hold her close to me and to enjoy being outside in the crisp evening air.  I want to remember what her warm skin felt like against mine and how she felt snuggled in my lap forever.

25 Weeks

At 25 weeks (10/22), I wrote up a quick blurb about what Baby Boy was doing.  Here are the things on my list:

Sitting
Crawling
More teeth?
Itsy Bitsy Spider
Sleep Issues
Drum
---
Expounding upon the list (11/21):

Sitting: He started sitting like a champ right around this time.
Crawling: He can get around at will, but still no traditional crawling
More teeth?: We're pretty sure there are more teeth coming (they ended up poking through 11/16 and 11/19)
Itsy Bitsy Spider: This is the craziest thing.  Baby Boy is instantly calmed by The Itsy Bitsy Spider.  If he's fussy, he will stop and stare at your hands and start his wiggling and giggling.  I don't understand it, but you'd better bet that I use the hell out of it.
Sleep Issues: I think it was at this point that he started waking 4-7 times per night.  It was ugly.  He only wanted Mommy, too.  Ugh.
Drum: When Grandma and Pops visited Gatlinburg, they brought Baby Girl back a little drum like Native Americans use.  Well, my dad discovered that Baby Boy liked to put it into his mouth when he was teething. He'd put one side into his mouth and we beat the other side with the mallet to make it vibrate on his gums.  It looks hilarious and we end up with a ton of drool down the side of the drum, but it makes him happy :)

6 Months (and 3 weeks...)

Baby Boy,

I don't know if it's possible for me to write even a sentence to you without crying.  My heart swells with joy and love whenever I think of you.  When I see your beautiful smile (which you give me whenever you see me), I want to pick you up and snuggle you like crazy.  And that, of course, would make you squirm and whine because you're just not a snuggler.  Thank God for your sister because I can't imagine not having at least one kid who snuggles!

------
I wrote that first part one day after you turned 6 months old and am just now, when you're 6 months and 3 weeks old (11/21/12), getting back around to revisiting this blog post.

What I really want to say, Little Man, is that you are loved.  You are SO loved.  And I haven't been blogging because I've been soaking up the essence of YOU.  You make me happy all the time.  Your smile lights up the room and my heart.  You delight in the smallest things like playing with a sock or seeing twitching fingers, ready to get you.  You love to squeal and wiggle and I could play with you and just BE with you all day every single day.

So while I'm not writing a lot, it's because I'm spending time with you.  I love being your mommy and if I could guarantee that every baby I ever have could be just like you, I'd have another ten.

Love,
Mommy

6 Month Pediatrician Appointment

I have a sappy post to write and some updates about Baby Boy's development as well as a post about Baby Girl....but this is an easy post to write, so I'm going to knock it out while my queries are running.

Stats:

16 lbs 14 oz (38th percentile)
26 inches long (25th percentile)
44 cm (86th percentile)

My chunky monkey little man has quickly become a not-so-big little boy (except his head...which would explain the 3rd degree tear...).  The pediatrician doesn't have any concerns because both his weight and height have a downward trend (in percentile, not the actual height or weight!), but I have a hard time not worrying, especially since until last Saturday I was his only source of nourishment.  I thought he was always going to be huge, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

The doctor was happy with his development and said he was head of schedule for large motor since he's already army-crawling.  He also said that he doesn't expect babies to start using consonants until about seven months, which he's started to do a bit.  It always makes me feel happy when my kids are head of schedule for developmental milestones, even though I have very little to do with it.

At the appointment, Baby Girl also was getting her flu shot.  We had talked through what would happen and were reviewing it before the nurse came in.  The following conversation ensued:


Me: They're going to give you a little pinch, then put a bandage on it to help it feel better.
Baby Girl: Why does it need to feel better?  It won't hurt.
Me: You're right.  The bandage helps keep the medicine in your body.
Baby Girl: How does the medicine get in my body?  I have skin.
Me: Yep, but the shot makes a little tiny hole to help the medicine get inside.
Baby Girl: ......(you can see the wheels turning).....Will I have to wear the bandage forever?
Me: No, the skin closes up after a little bit of time.


The nurse gave her her shot and she just watched and was happy to get her star-shaped bandage (like below):

Next it was time for Baby Boy to get his shots.  We'd talked to the doctor about what vaccinations he needed at this appointment and the pediatrician was going to give him 4 injections (Hepatitis B, flu shot, TDAP (something like that, at least), and leading cause of meningitis) plus an oral vaccination for rotovirus.  I asked if there was anything we could delay for the month until we come back for his second flu shot and he said that the Hepatitis B could be delayed, so we did 3 shots plus the oral vaccination, then at the end of November need to go back for a second flu shot and the Hepatitis B shot.  Blech.

His sister held onto his arm while I held his hands and looked at his face.  I felt awful for him when his head turned bright red and he was screaming, but he stopped crying pretty quickly after I picked him up.  He whimpered a little, but was generally okay.  I took Baby Girl for her sticker (she chose Mickey Mouse) while The Hubby got Baby Boy dressed.  I then nursed Baby Boy in the car in the parking lot of the pediatrician's office because, as expected, he passed out on the way to the sitter.  We dropped off the kids and went to work.

Mobility

Baby Boy is trying SO hard to be mobile.  He lays on his belly and alternates between pushing up on his arms and laying on his belly flailing his arms and legs.  His preferred method of communication recently has been growling, so when he gets frustrated, that's what he starts to do.  The funny part is that he'll have a toy, then push it just out of his reach and get mad that he can't play with it anymore.  In the last couple of days, though, he's been able to get his right leg bent and push off with it.  He moves a bit crooked, of course, but he's getting there.  The sitter also told us that he's been doing downward-facing dog some, forming an upside-down V with his hands and feet on the ground.  He's SO close.  Even now, we can't put him on the floor and expect him to stay there.  He's a rolling and spinning fool.  He hasn't quite figured out that he could barrel roll to move across the floor, but does it inadvertently anyway.  The place he most commonly rolls, though, is in bed.  We put him down awake and then go downstairs to look at the video monitor to watch the show.  He rolls and spins and does a few laps of his crib until he just falls asleep.  It's so fun to watch!

I guess that means it's time to start thinking about baby proofing since I have a feeling he's going to be into everything.  The bookcase that has been in the living room since before Baby Girl was born might need to be anchored and/or emptied altogether.  It houses my cookbooks, so it wouldn't be a huge deal if it got emptied, but I don't want him to pull up on it.  Baby Girl left it alone in general and I have a feeling that Baby Boy is going to be an entirely different ballgame.  Here we go...

Old Friend

You know that old friend that you've got?  The one that was your BFF, maybe in high school or maybe college.  She knew everything about you.  And then life happened and you drifted apart.  You didn't make time for each other anymore.  Maybe you moved to separate states or even countries.  You saw each other's posts on Facebook, but didn't really know much about your friend's everyday life.  And then that friend comes to town for a visit.  While you're comfortable, you aren't sure what to talk about.

Do you tell her about how your parents are doing, how your work is going?  Or do you tell her about your crazy anxiety about having two kids, a job, a husband, a house, managing your finances, and still trying to foster your own relationship with yourself?

Do you talk about people that you used to know and what they're doing now?  Or do you admit to her everything you're struggling with, from your own weight issues to focusing at work to your lack of confidence because apparently you don't make children that know how to sleep?

I tend to try to do the former.  To talk about surface things.  Easy things.  To not get into the deep stuff, even though you really need to confess it all to that person that used to be your main confidante.

And when you start talking regularly again, how do you get to the place where you talk about The Real Stuff?  You don't want to jump right in.  You want to tiptoe, sticking one toe in the water, testing the waters to see if you can still relate to each other, to see if that friend can handle your new reality.

This blog has become that old friend.  I want to foster a relationship again, but I'm not sure how.  I'm going to try, but forgive me if I can't take the plunge just yet back to the place where we once were.

Update on the kids

I can't even take the time to tell you how incredibly busy I am.  Seriously, people.  I'm writing this on work time, which I shouldn't be doing, but I really want to write down a few things that are happening with the kids.

Baby Boy:

• Yesterday (October 2nd) we discovered that he has his first tooth!  He loves to chew on our hands (always had) and so I let him chew my fingers and then I felt it.  Crazy!  Baby Girl didn't get hers until she was over 9 months old.  Yet ANOTHER thing that shows that they're different kids.
• One thing they aren't so different about is their behavior when teething--you can't tell.  At least with this one (and I hope it continues for the others), we had no idea that Baby Boy was teething.  He's always put stuff in his mouth and drooled, so it wasn't much different.  Yay!
• Another cold has hit our house.  Blech.  Baby Girl started it, shared with her brother (it has been fairly mild for him so far), and just today, 1.5 weeks after Baby Girl first got sick, I'm feeling rough.  Not horrible, but not great, either.  Yesterday I had such a sore throat that it hurt to talk or swallow for a few hours.  Today I'm just a little stuffy and a little cough-y and just feeling sort of run down.  Nothing major, though.
• Sleep improved...for one or two nights.  Seriously, baby sleep is going to drive me insane.  We got through a stretch of waking 5-6 times per night and were down to 2-3.  I don't know why, but he continues to wake up right as we're going to bed, around 10:00 or a little before.  Sunday night he woke up at that time, then slept until 3.  Woo!  Monday night he went down at his normal time (7:30ish) and didn't wake up until 2:00.  Those were both really good.  He was back to waking at 10, 2, 5 last night, though.  So incredibly inconsistent.  His normal daytime sleep is: 15-30 minute nap in the morning (this is usually 45 minutes at home) and then 1.5-2.5 hour nap in the afternoon.  He sometimes will fall asleep in the car on the way home and if he doesn't, is pretty sleepy before 7:00.  We're still trying to figure him out, though.
• He can freely roll both directions at will.  He can get his butt up in the air and can push way up on his arms, but hasn't yet figure out how to combine the two.  I wouldn't be surprised to see him crawling in the next month.

Baby Girl:

• We've been having trouble with her not napping and peeing in her Pull Up on the weekends, so I bribed her with a marshmallow on Saturday.  One if she napped and one if she kept her Pull Up dry (I'd suspected that she was peeing right before we went and got her in the morning).  She did it!  So we did it again on Sunday and it worked again.  I told her that if she kept her Pull Up dry all night long Sunday night that she could have another marshmallow and you know what?  It worked Sunday and Monday nights.  She did pee in her Pull Up last night, but it was a very small amount.  We're finally getting somewhere with her overnight potty training!
• Her behavior has gotten a lot better.  We had an incident where she slapped a one year old on the cheeks at the sitter (she still says she was trying to make him laugh, which I believe) and we've had to be a lot more careful about her being alone with her brother, but she just wants to play.  We talk a lot about how strong she is compared to the baby.  I'm not looking forward to Baby Boy being mobile, but in this instance, it'll be nice when he can run away from her if she's bugging him.  Unfortunately (or fortunately?) he typically busts into belly laughs when she plays rough with him.
• Bedtime is still rough.  She wants snuggles and we end up spending far more time with her at bedtime than we'd prefer.  She only goes without crying at bedtime about half of the nights.  So frustrating!  Why don't my babies sleep???  I LOVE SLEEP!

Still alive, but definitely worse for the wear

Hello.

Yeah, it's been awhile.

Not much...how 'bout you?

Oh wait, we aren't singing anymore.  Yep, it's been awhile.  Sorry about that.  I've missed you as much as you've missed me--probably more.

Things have been hectic around here, to say the least.  On August 13th, I started back to work full time and that means Baby Boy started to go to the sitter.  Work has been incredibly busy and life at home definitely hasn't slowed down, either.  Add to that the fact that Blogger doesn't work well on the iPad, which is my only connection to the outside world when I'm at home, and I just haven't been able to blog much.

Honestly, I'm still busy, but wanted to make a few minutes while I'm pumping to write up a few things.  That means that this will be a bullet point post.  I'd like to give you more, but this is all I've got right now.

• My Baby Girl is growing up super fast.  This morning she got dressed entirely by herself.  She took off her pajamas, went potty, washed her hands, put on her panties, shorts, shirt, and shoes ALL BY HERSELF.  What a big girl.
• My Baby Boy is also growing up too fast.  Over Labor Day weekend, he became a master at rolling from his back to his belly. He *can* roll from belly to back, but not as well as back to belly.  Sometimes he gets on his belly and wants to go back to his back and forgets how.  
• In spite of being able to roll, he's still sleeping on his side at home.  Apparently he's rolling to his tummy at the sitter to sleep, which is fine with us.
• The day I came back to work was the day Baby Boy came down with his first cold, complete with a stuffy nose and cough.  It took him awhile to get over it, but he didn't ever lose his charming personality.  He actually still hasn't stopped coughing entirely, but we started using a humidifier in his room and it's helping him sleep a bit better.
• Speaking of sleep, there's very little of it happening in our house.  Baby Boy is up at least 3 times per night and has been for the last week and a half or so, with the worst nights being over this past weekend.  He has been napping and starting the night (more on that in a moment) in his crib since not long before I went back to work, I think.  The transition was fine.  
• We are sort of unofficially co-sleeping.  When Baby Boy wakes for the first time (which is now happening around 11...when we actually went through a phase of it being closer to 3), The Hubby brings him to me to nurse.  He usually tries to get the baby back to sleep, but quickly concludes that he needs to eat.  I usually nurse him laying down if I'm already in bed and then we all end up falling asleep.  Then it's a vicious cycle--baby rolls toward me, fussing with his mouth open like a baby bird, I nurse him, we all fall back asleep again until The Hubby's alarm goes off in the morning.  It's exhausting, honestly, because I don't get a good night's sleep at all anymore and my back hurts really bad because I'm sleeping on the edge of the bed and have to contort myself some when I nurse him laying down.  I'm hoping to tackle this soon because I think everyone will sleep better once he's in his own bed more.
• Baby Girl has started waking up at night.  She lays in her bed, going to sleep, and wants one of us to come in later.  If we don't or we come in after she's sleeping, she wakes up sometime in the night, thinking it's still early and that she's still waiting for us.  I'm not sure how to remedy this...it's the first she's woken in the night since she started sleeping through the night at 16 months.  Even sickness never woke her in the past.
• We had Baby Boy's 4 month appointment.  I'm not sure if I've avoided posting about it because it makes me anxious or if it's due to the busyness mentioned above.  You see, he didn't grow as much as we'd anticipated.  He'd been in the 90th+ percentile for weight and 75th for height.  At his appointment he was 50th for weight and 30th for height.  I keep telling myself that he was getting ready for a growth spurt (which might explain the sleep issues as well) and that he just grew right after his appointment.  Who knows if that's actually true.  He handled the shots really well. After the first one, he just looked at the nurse as if to say, "Why are you touching me?", but then cried a bit after the second.  He did get a fever for a couple of days afterward, but never got cranky at all.  
• This morning Baby Boy reached for someone for the first time--our sitter.  I'm happy he likes her, I truly am.  But I'm a *little* sad that he doesn't reach for us yet.  It was still cute.
• We went through some eating issues at the sitter.  He went through a couple of days of only eating 7 ounces or so while I was at work, which seemed to be just enough to get him through until we picked him up.  Then he was up every 2 hours or so to eat.  The sitter got him to take a more normal amount (usually around 13 ounces--whatever we give her that I pumped the day prior) by laying him on his side as if he was nursing.  Whatever works! 
• Baby Boy sleeps well at the sitter.  He takes a short (30 minutes or so) morning nap and then a longer (2.5 hours or so) afternoon nap while the big kids are sleeping.  She just lays him down and he sleeps.  Bliss!
• Baby Boy actually puts himself to sleep for us at home, too.  We do a little shh/pat (a la The Baby Whisperer, which is what we used when Baby Girl was younger) if he seems restless, but otherwise he'll just snuggle his lovey (a silky elephant blankie), roll onto his side, and go to sleep.  He does sometimes use a binkie to go to sleep, but not always.
• We also got out the Exersaucer a couple of weeks ago.  We've already had to raise it to the 2nd level and could easily move it to the highest setting.  He loves it and it's really fun to watch him in it.  
• Baby Boy also still really loves his bouncy chair, but unfortunately it's going to have to go away really soon.  His tushy is almost on the ground.  I'm glad the bouncy chair has gotten use this time around since Baby Girl just wasn't a big fan.  He loves to play with those dangly critters and is now strong enough to rip them down.

That's all I can come up with off the top of my head right now.  If you have any questions, let me know!  Hopefully you'll hear from me before the end of *this* month, but we'll see what life is going to throw my way in the next few weeks.  You never know!

15 Weeks

I'm sad that The Blogger interface isn't great on the iPad. I would blog a lot more if it worked well, I swear.

Quick list of developments:

- Started grabbing ahold of your face and trying to eat it when you're close
- Started to consolidate sleep. Even when at home with me, taking one or two quick naps in the morning and a longer afternoon sleep, then maybe one more quick nap.
- The day he turned 15 weeks, he came down with his first cold. He now has no voice, which is adorable and pathetic at the same time. That day was also his first day at the sitter.
- Still rolling to his sides at will from his back. Doesn't seem to have an interest in rolling all the way over.

Meal Plan 8/12/12 - 8/18/12

After having a discussion with the Hubby a few nights ago, he took it upon himself to make our list of meals this week. Would I have preferred to do it with the ad? Sure, but I ended up finding some Managers Special meat anyway. Plus, how could I say something after he took the initiative and did it?

Sunday: Sloppy Joes and tater tots--I'm on my own for dinner with the kids tonight, so I wanted something super easy. This is also left over from last week, so the buns and meat needed to be used.

Monday: Broiled Tilapia and rice--Another leftover from last week. The package of fish from last week needs to be used and I picked up another on Manager's Special today. I can't say I'm a fish lover, but I don't want Baby Girl to not like fish just because I don't, plus there are health benefits to eating fish that I don't want to miss out on.

Tuesday: Cayenne Chicken--I got some chicken on Manager's Special (a rarity), so this will need to be used early in the week.

Wednesday: Tortilla Soup--I'll use some shredded chicken that was cooked during a batch cooking session before Baby Boy was born, so this will be an easy dinner.

Thursday: Tacos--And now, for the Mexican trifecta...  This taco meat was also made during a batch cooking session before Baby Boy was born. It's a good thing I'm okay with Mexican without cheese. I add avocado to make up for the creamy sour cream that I'm missing.

Friday: Pancake Bites--This sounds like a great Friday night dinner. I love breakfast for dinner (brinner) and usually The Hubby does a chunk of the cooking that night.

Saturday: Steak Salad--Something we've had before. Just basically veggies and steak sautéed and thrown over some lettuce.

Three Year Old Stats

Today we had Baby Girl's three year checkup with the pediatrician and she did really well. They weighed her, got her height, took her blood pressure, then did a general check-over. And she was deemed perfect :)

Stats:

Height: 37.25 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 35.6 pounds (75th percentile)

He doesn't have any areas of concern and mentioned her going to the dentist (she'll go with us to our next cleaning for her first). It was generally pretty uneventful. She got her sticker and wanted to check out the fishies.

On our way out I asked if we could check Baby Boy's weight. With clothes on he was 15 pounds 7 ounces. Wow. Baby girl was 15 lbs 15 oz at 6 months old. Geez.

14 Weeks

I'm actually really glad I waited a day to write this, because now I have new stuff to write about!

In the last week we've noticed Baby Boy being markedly more interested in being upright and just generally being less of a blob.  He can sit with something in his hands (so he's leaning forward) for about 5 seconds sometimes and he seems to love that little bit of independence.  He can also roll onto his sides if he wants.  And just this week he's started really getting his head up high when he's on his tummy.  He's pushing up with his hands some, but it's still mostly from arching his back.

The biggest thing is that today he rolled from tummy to back three times.  It only happened when I left his right arm sort of under him so he didn't have to figure out what to do with it when he rolled, but it was pretty cool.  It also really startled him and he sort of bonked his head on the floor (he was on his play mat on the rug, so it wasn't like it hurt him), but I cheered him and I think he understood that it was a good thing.

This week Baby Boy has really ramped up the drool.  Baby Girl never needed to wear a bib all day, but we may be moving in that direction with Baby Boy.  It just runs out of his mouth all over everything and everyone.  We even have moments of wondering if he's teething because he's cramming so much into his mouth and sometimes even getting fussy.  We know logically that he isn't, but it's worse than we ever remember Baby Girl being.

I've also been working on getting Baby Boy to nap in his crib.  We've had moments where he has done it, but it didn't last more than a half hour or so and we hadn't been consistent about it.  Yesterday he took two (or three?) naps in his crib for 45 minutes apiece.  I also put him down for his first nap this morning in there.  When he woke up he was obviously still tired, but wouldn't go back to sleep.  I let him nap on me for his later morning nap, but when time for his afternoon nap, I thought I'd put him in his crib.  I had to fight him to get him to sleep because he was overtired from having shorter naps this morning.  I swayed with him on his side with the binky in his mouth.  When he was obviously drowsy, I laid him down, then had to shh/pat him for about 5 minutes, again on his side with the binky in his mouth.  I also gave him a lovey--an elephant that is silky on one side and soft on the other.  Since he usually wakes at 45 minutes, I went upstairs after about 40 minutes, prepared to get him back to sleep.  He stirred a couple of times and I patted him a teeny bit.  I'm not sure if he would've gotten himself back to sleep or not, but I'm glad I was up there.  I came back down after he'd been asleep for a little over an hour (I didn't have a clock up there or I would've come down earlier) and he's still sleeping and has been for 1 hour 40 minutes.  This is all in an effort to get him to nap well for the sitter in a crib.

I will make a separate post about my impending return to work full time next Monday.  To say I'm dreading it is an understatement.  I held him earlier today and just sobbed at him--I'm really going to miss him.

I am the girl with the lame ringtone

Stepping away from mommy blogging for a moment (GASP!), I want to talk about technology and its role in my life.

You see, I WORK in technology.  I train people to use computers.  I create technological solutions for work problems.  I help develop computer systems.

But in my real life, technology just isn't all that important to me.  Do I love to have new toys?  Of course.  But it isn't a priority for me financially.  We have an iPad that we received as a gift.  We also have a nice TV that we received as a gift as well (from the same loving in-laws--I love their decision to just do one big gift for Christmas!).  Our laptop, however, is on its last legs and badly needs either overhauled or replaced, but we haven't made it a priority to do so yet.

This brings me to our cell phones.  My husband has an iPhone and I LUV it.  But he wouldn't have it if 1) he hadn't gotten birthday money from his parents to pay for about half of it and 2) work wasn't paying for the service.  It's actually a nice thing--instead of having to carry both a work-owned cell phone and a personal phone, he can have work pay entirely for the data and voice packages for his cell phone and just take work calls there (unless, of course, I hide his phone...not that I would ever do that).  So this means that when we're out and about together we do have access to the internet, maps, and email.  I can't find a way to justify spending the money on a fancy phone and data package for myself to be able to use when I'm not with him.

I have a green phone that was an upgrade from my last phone because it has an optional QWERTY keyboard.  Fancy, huh?  I pay $5 each month for 200 texts.  I pay extra if I receive any picture or video messages.  I pay if I access the internet.  My ringtones are the dorky ones that came with the phone. And I'm saving money and not terribly inconvenienced, so I don't really care.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to hoist this boombox onto my shoulder and take a walk. Why spend the money on a fancy new MP3 player when this 8-track player works just fine?

Three Months Old

Bubba (yep, this is what we're calling you right now),

When I found out we were having a boy, I wasn't excited.  I was actually downright disappointed at times.  I wanted another girl.  I wanted a girl to dress up, whose hair I could do, who would be sweet and loving and snuggly.  But I wasn't having a girl--I was having you.  I had a lot of apprehension from the moment we found out you were a boy until the day you were born.  And then when you were born, none of it mattered anymore; I was in love.  And that love hasn't wavered and I haven't had one moment of wishing you were a girl from the moment I met you.  You are so incredibly sweet, happy, laid-back, AND snuggly.  Is it possible that you'll become more independent than your sister and resist hugs and cuddles from Mommy?  Sure, and I dread that day.  But for now, I cannot imagine having any other baby.  I spend my days home with you (I'm only back to work part time right now) laughing and smiling.  The only time you cry is when you're tired or hungry, both of which can be fixed pretty easily.  You are the happiest baby I've ever seen and you have the best laugh.  You giggle at your big sister, even when she's being a little rough--I think you actually like it.  This morning, for instance, she was lifting your legs up to your chest while you were propped up in a sitting position on the couch.  Sounds uncomfortable for an adult!  She then pulled your legs down and would pull you from sitting to laying on the couch.  You thought it was the best thing ever.  I love watching the two of you together and love the gleam you get in your eyes when she's near.

I cannot wait to see what sort of man you grow into.  If you grow up to be exactly like your daddy I'll be a happy mommy.  I hope we can make that happen.  I want you to retain your laid-back, happy ways, to always go with the flow.  I want you to respect others.  I want you to understand work ethic and work hard to get the things you want in life.  I want you to have a silly streak.  I want you to understand that men don't have to hide their emotions.  There are so many things I want to teach you, my little man.

For now, though, I just want to hold you, talk to you, nibble on your chubby cheeks and thighs, and see that beautiful smile.

Love,
Mommy

13 Weeks

(Somewhat sappy 3 month post to come in the next day or so...I'm all sapped out after writing Baby Girl's letter.)

How cool that 3 months and 13 weeks both fall on a Monday. It makes sense when I think about it, but it snuck up on me this time!

Let's see...this week hasn't been overly exciting, really. Baby Boy is starting to pull his legs up off the floor and is, consequently, rolling some onto his side. He still has no interest in rolling when on his belly--he gets angry really quickly. He is, however, having moments of actually pushing up with his arms and not always just arching his back to lift his head.

He continues to explore his voice and is making more high-pitched noises. If I'm out of the room I'm having a harder time determining if he's happy or sad.

Speaking of exploring, Baby Boy is still exploring everything with his mouth. If you don't want it drooled on, don't give it to him. This could be your fingers, toys, clothes, blankets...whatever.

He is also still really laid back. He slept in the stroller at the fair (without patting, rocking, or anything!) and also slept for a bit in his infant seat at dinner later in the day! He also got passed around at his sister's birthday party and even napped on his daddy during present-opening. He loves it when you get your face close to his quickly and rewards you with a great belly laugh sometimes.

Baby Boy is an incredibly efficient nurser, which is especially nice when you're feeding him in public. He takes about 5 minutes and only nurses on one side each session. He still nurses to sleep each night, although he is starting to fight it. I also frequently nurse him to sleep for naps just because I'm lazy. He could go to sleep with walking and bouncing or I could nurse him... It's nice to be the bearer of the "magic juice", as we call it.

Three years old

My sweet little girl,

You are three years old today. I have spent a lot of the day remembering that day three years ago: where we were, what we were doing, and what we were feeling. It was an overwhelming day--our lives changed in a shocking and amazing way when you entered this world. I wouldn't change a thing. Your daddy and I talk a lot about the fact that we were meant to have you--that baby in that moment. We waited longer than we wanted to for you, but knowing who we ended up with, we wouldn't change one thing.

This last year hasn't been as filled with physical development as the previous ones, but you've grown by bounds intellectually and emotionally and I truly couldn't be more proud. You're such a smart little girl and are able to communicate with us better than we'd ever thought a three year old could. That isn't to say that we haven't had any struggles--we have...oh, we have--but you're still so incredible. Our struggles have been recent and mighty--it's like we're paying the price for never experiencing the Terrible Twos--because you seem to have inherited your mommy's stubbornness. We butt heads from time to time, but in the end you're still my sweet girl who just wants to make Mommy and Daddy proud and happy.

You, my dear, love fiercely and wholly. You are always asking for "one more hug and kiss" before we go anywhere--even just to the bathroom! You adore your daddy and love to play with him.

Your little brother is your favorite person, it seems. People ask me all the time about how you are as a big sister and I'm always quick to tell them that you are a better big sister than I could've hoped for. You are helpful and always want Nicholas to be happy. He is the first person you want to see when you get home and love to kiss and hug him. You get a little rough sometimes, unintentionally--you just want to love on him as hard as you can. And sweetheart, he loves you too. Sometimes you're the only one who can make him smile.

The arrival of the baby rocked your world. For as much as you love him, you were feeling pretty jealous of the time and attention we needed to give him--especially mommy. Once we settled into our home as a family of four, things have improved. Mommy and Daddy set aside time just for you and that led to better behavior--thank goodness! We still have more tantrums and fights than we had before he arrived, but we work through it. Our favorite words that we've supplied you with to use when you're disappointed and want to cry are "that makes me a little sad".

I love you so much, you headstrong little girl. You have shy moments and outgoing times. You still love food, being outside, and books. You want to help mommy with everything and ask me to save chores for you to do. You help me cook, clean, and do laundry (your favorite is folding sheets and when we walk our ends together--it makes you giggle loudly every time).

Thank you, sweet girl, for choosing me as your mommy. I thank God that He chose us to raise you and watch you develop. I can't wait to see what your fourth year will bring.

My love always,
Mommy

12 Weeks

In just a few days my baby boy will be three months old.  I feel like the world is passing me by as I try to cling to every moment.  But that's for another post.

Baby Boy's twelfth week was a great one sleep-wise.  I was in the process of writing up a blog post about how much I fear I screw up my kids' sleeping (or our genetics just create bad sleepers...not sure which) when he started only waking once per night.  Wow.  He did it Sunday night.  I figured it was a fluke.  When he woke up at 2 a.m. Monday night I assumed I'd see him again in a couple of hours, but he slept until morning.  Then Tuesday night he only woke once at 4.  This continued until Friday night, no matter what we did during the day.  Some days he napped better than others.  Some days he took an evening nap and some days he didn't.  And yet he still slept well.  Then Friday through Monday nights (as in Monday, the day he turned 12 weeks) he woke up twice per night, which still wasn't horrible after waking 3-4 times per night prior to the improvement.  Last night he actually woke up three times, but he had an odd evening (didn't nap and then fell asleep eating, which means he didn't eat nearly as well and then was stirring most of the evening), so I'm hoping we'll be back to waking once or twice tonight.  Either way, my fears that I'd screwed him up have been quelled...for now.

I also wanted to document a birth mark that I discovered on Baby Boy.  He has a mole on the back of his left knee.  I don't know if it's been there since birth, but I discovered it around 10 weeks when I was checking out his rolls (which are DELICIOUS...except for the crud I found in one of them yesterday).

Baby Boy is just growing like crazy.  Baby Girl has her 3 year doctor appointment on August 10th, so I might ask that he be weighed then.  If not then, he has his urologist appointment on August 16th and then we'll have his 4 month appointment at the end of August.  He is getting big and is still such a happy little man. If he's fussy, it's always for a reason and is typically because he's tired.  He has the best smiles and gives them to just about everyone.  He also has a little chuckle that he'll emit sometimes that sounds like he's being polite when someone tries to make him laugh.  But then when he really gets laughing, you know it!  He loves to watch and listen to Mommy sing and loves it when Daddy does up/downs over him (he'll run in place and then drop like he's going to smoosh Baby Boy, which is apparently the most hilarious thing in the world).

Meal Plan: 7/22 - 7/28/12

I just haven't been in the mood to eat real meals much recently since being dairy-free, on top of limiting my bean intake, so our meal plan is fairly uninspired. I also don't know when we'll have which meals--it all depends on what sounds good each night.

Now that I've sufficiently reduced your expectations...

Spaghetti and meatballs
Breakfast: pancake bites that I found on Pinterest, eggs, and hash browns
Sloppy Joes and tater tots
Beef and vegetable soup
Lazy man's cabbage rolls

Next Saturday is Baby Girl's third (OMG...SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?) birthday party and her big day is Sunday, so our weekend will be filled with party and the week will be spent getting prepared to convert our house into a Christmas wonderland.

11 Weeks

Friday night The Hubby and I took Baby Boy out to dinner with us at a local German restaurant and while the food was yummy, he was totally overwhelmed by the noise and alternated between fussing and looking around with big eyes. My favorite part of eating there is the cream puffs. I thought I'd try splitting one with The Hubby and see what happened. The good news is that Baby Boy didn't have gas pains. The bad news is that he spit up a lot the next day. It doesn't seem like he's ready for me to have dairy, but at least we know that he won't be uncomfortable and gassy if I have a little.

Saturday we took a trip to my in-laws' house to visit and pick up Baby Girl, who had been staying there since Wednesday evening. We had to make a stop to nurse in a cemetery, but he otherwise did pretty well. We took the Rock n Play with us, but actually used the Pack n Play that my mother-in-law set up for us. He'd never successfully napped anywhere but on us or in the Rock n Play, but he did great! He also slept in the Pack n Play overnight and did no worse than he'd done at home. He was an absolute charmer with The Hubby's family the entire time, as I thought he'd be.

The biggest development of the week is that Baby Boy slept 8:45 to 4:15 last night! We woke up and were both stunned when we saw what time it was. Wow!

I don't know if last night's sleep is related or not, but today he's being a bit crazy. He's crying more than normal, wanting to nurse (possibly because I pumped 4 ounces from the left side when he woke at 4:00, maybe because I pumped 2 ounces when he woke up for good, and possibly because he's just feeling off). I don't know what it is, but he's also extra tired, but not able to sleep for long. He won't let me lay him down or anything when he's awake, which is really unusual. It's got me frazzled since I'm supposed to be working from home an average of 1 hr 20 minutes per day and I can't get anything done.

I hope the sleep progress continues--I was seriously about to write a blog entry about how much I fear I'm screwing up his sleep. I hope, though, that today is the end of the crankiness!

Meal Plan 7/16/12 - 7/22/12

Monday: Mom's Noodles and potatoes--my mom made us homemade noodles when Baby Boy was born for the freezer and we ate some last week. Since they're thawed, we need to eat them up!
Tuesday: Taco salad--this week wasn't a great meat sale week at the grocery, so we're pulling taco meat from the freezer that we prepared before Baby Boy was born, making taco bowls with tortillas in the oven, and serving with avocados.
Wednesday: Mojo Shrimp--this is a meal that friends made for us that we make whenever we want shrimp. Unfortunately, I can't find the recipe online. Maybe I'll type it up for the blog someday.
Thursday: Southwestern Veggie Stuffed Peppers--we are trying to use a bit less meat (although with me avoiding dairy and copious amounts of beans, this is proving difficult) and I found this on my favorite cooking blog. I think I've made it before and loved them!
Friday: Healthy Lazy Man Cabbage Rolls-- I've made these before, but can't find the recipe I used. Hopefully this is as good as the original!
Saturday: leftovers

10 Weeks

Ten weeks old and still a hoss :) Baby Boy is much more relaxed than his sister ever was. It is so fun to watch him play by himself and flirt with everyone he meets. He tolerates his car seat much better as well. We went to the zoo yesterday with The Hubby's family (parents and brother's family) and both kids did great! I nursed Baby Boy in the aquarium twice, which worked out well. He slept on the drive up and again in his car seat in the stroller. I also carried him and helped him sleep some. It was really hot and we were all very sweaty and cranky by the time we got home!

Baby Boy is definitely a lot more aware of the world around him. He has started to get scared by loud noises like his sister screaming, which isn't fun for anyone. He is also distracted when nursing by people and noises. I don't know if he needs to eat less often or is just more efficient, but during some sessions he's popping off and giggling at me after less than 5 minutes. It is adorable, but frustrating.

Another developmental change I've noticed over the last couple of weeks is that he wants to stand all the time. He can support his weight for a minute or more, just using us for balance. He loves being upright in general and is also trying to sit up from laying down. We've started using the Bumbo some. When he's tired, his head will fall back a bit, but otherwise he loves it. His chunky thighs don't fit so well already, though, so I don't know how long we'll be able to use it!

He has also been finding different tones to his voice. He's starting to get loud and use different pitches. It's so fun to listen to!

I doubt anyone reading really wants to know this, but Baby Boy's poop has gotten thicker and less frequent. Hopefully it doesn't lead to blowouts like we experienced with Baby Girl!

Last items of note pertain to sleep. I'm going to do a whole entry about sleep, but wanted to mention two things. We had one night with a 6 hour stretch and last night got another of just under 5 hours. They typically happen when he hasn't slept as much during the late afternoon and the long stretches have been through the evening and very early morning. The other thing is that we had a day with more normal napping--2 hour morning and afternoon naps and a short early evening nap (although they were all on someone). He didn't have a long stretch that night, so I'm not pushing for another day like that yet.

The important thing to know is that he's growing and changing. I see him every day, so sometimes it is hard to see the changes, but they are definitely happening!

Meal Plan 7/8/12 - 7/14/12

I've been meal planning and cooking since Baby Boy was born but, to be honest, it has been pretty boring, so I haven't posted anything, especially since I'm still dairy-free. This week is a bit more interesting, so I'm trying to get back into the habit of posting. Plus it'll be good to write something other than posts about the baby :)

For starters, we had tilapia tonight. You see, I'm not a fish eater. At all. But I realized recently that I was depriving Baby Girl of a whole type of food because I don't like it. I found tilapia on sale this week and decided to give it a shot. You know what? It wasn't bad. Baby Girl had seconds, so we'll be having it again, even if it wasn't my favorite. I know it is good for me, too.

Also, this week Baby Girl is going to spend three nights with my husband's parents. The Hubby will meet his mom with Baby Girl on Wednesday evening and they'll have dinner. Then my mother-in-law will take her home with her (about an hour and 45 minutes away from home) until we come up to visit with Baby Boy on Saturday. That means that dinner Wednesday will be up in the air for me and then we will be without Baby Girl Thursday and Friday. She eats really well still so we aren't sure what we'll do to take advantage of her being gone, but we'll figure something out.

Sunday: tilapia, corn on the cob, rice
Monday: ribs, corn on the cob
Tuesday: noodles (homemade that my mom made and froze for us) and mashed potatoes
Wednesday: Out for The Hubby and Baby Girl, not sure what I'll do
Thursday: steak salad (planning on steak, lettuce, corn, bell peppers, avocado and green onion)
Friday: Out?
Saturday: at the in-laws' house

9 weeks

I'm not sure if a lot has changed in the last week or if I've just noticed a lot more! I was making my list before I sat down to write the actual entry and it is a long list this week!

We've noticed a sharp increase in the amount of drool Baby Boy is producing this week, especially when he's focusing on standing up. There also seems to be more when he's stuffy at night, which makes sense. I remember that Baby Girl started drooling somewhere around this time (maybe closer to 3 months?) and I was sure it would be teething. Ha! She didn't cut her first tooth until she was over 9 months old!

In the middle of last week, we could see that Baby Boy was starting to notice his hands. He isn't staring at them like I know a lot of babies do (Baby Girl never did), but he's finding ways to use them, like grabbing his rooster friend. I know he isn't doing it on purpose yet, but he's getting his hands moving and has gotten ahold of the tag a few times.

Also in the last week or two, he has starting laughing. It is AWESOME. His favorite things for me to do are to bounce him on my knee while singing William Tell Overture and to play "where's your tongue?" I stick my tongue out for him and cheer when he sticks his out. And come to think of it, he likes just about any song with the word "doo". Haha! I've been singing "I've Got You Babe", too, which makes him happy.

Baby Boy has also started noticing things that are further away--the TV and the light fixtures are favorites right now. I'm doing my best to keep him from staring at the TV. We don't keep our kids away from TV until the recommended 2 years, but seeing a two month old baby zone out while staring at the TV is a little creepy, if you ask me.

When he lays on his play mat, he's always moving and has started spinning in a circle. He does it by planting his feet and lifting his butt off the ground. I was pretty impressed when I saw him doing that! Now if we can just get him interested in rolling...

Lastly, Baby Boy had his two month checkup last Friday. He weighed a whopping 13 lbs 3 oz (greater than 90th percentile) and was 23 inches long, which is average. His head circumference was around the 75th percentile. In other words, he's growing consistently. The doctor mentioned that he assumes his growth will slow down when he starts to move between 4 and 6 months, which is exactly what happened to Baby Girl, although she went from average to being on the smaller side. And I think he complimented me on the quality of my breast milk :)

Two months old

My sweet little boy,

Yesterday you turned two months old. I'm sure I'll be saying this for the rest of your life, but I can't believe that you've been part of our lives for two months. In some ways, it feels like you've always been here and in others it feels like it was just yesterday that you were born.

I'm working my first day of work since your birth on Tuesday and I'm so sad that our constant time together is coming to an end. These past two months with you have been some of the best time that I've had. It's funny--I know that I have spent some time every day crying, but you make me SO happy. I am more in love with you than I EVER could have imagined. Just looking into your beautiful brown eyes makes my heart do a little flip. When you smile at me (which is pretty much anytime you aren't sleeping), I melt.

You are so laid back, Mr. Man. I am pretty sure that it is your personality and not just because we're forcing you to be. You've been my first priority pretty much 24/7 since your birth while Daddy tends to your big sister, so you don't have to wait for much. But you'll lay and entertain yourself willingly (your best friends are the elephant and rooster that hang from your play gym--you tell them great stories!), hang out in your carseat, and just stare at the fan or light fixture. The only time you get fussy is when you're tired or maybe really hungry. Even when you're hungry you typically just gnaw on your hands for quite awhile before you start to squawk.

I hope you never outgrow your interest in snuggling or your happy, smiley ways. You truly are the best part of my day.

I love you, always and forever.

Love,
Mommy

8 weeks

Here we are...eight weeks (and two days). My big boy is almost two months old. We go for his two month checkup (and shots) on Friday, so we'll have official size stats then.

In the last week...

...we started putting Baby Boy in size 2 diapers overnight. I would switch him during the day, too, if I didn't still have a decent stash of size 1s. Never would've thought I'd have a baby this big when Baby Girl was average-to-small!

...I've noticed Baby Boy tracking objects and really focusing on things. He's always been interested in things around him, but I can tell he's seeing further and following objects and people with his eyes. It is fun to see.

...his sleeping has been better...then worse. Over the weekend Baby Boy slept well. He had a 5.5 hour stretch of sleep Saturday night. Sunday night he slept for 3.5 hours, then when The Hubby got him up, fell asleep on the bed while I was getting my nursing pillow on. I made The Hubby put him back in his bed and we all slept for another 1.5 hours! And then Monday happened. Monday he was awake, screaming, and not consoled by anything but nursing all afternoon. Then he went back to waking every 2-2.5 hours overnight. He repeated this yesterday. I'm blaming a developmental growth spurt (Google The Wonder Weeks--totally fascinating to me!). Today he has actually been better, so I'm hoping that is the explanation. Even if it isn't, it makes me feel less like it might somehow be my own fault.

...we visited the Urology department at a branch of our local children's hospital. At his one month appointment, our pediatrician discovered some penile adhesions (he is probably going to kill me when he's older for blogging about this...). He wasn't able to get one bug area and wanted a urologist to look at it instead, so we were referred. The most exciting part of the appointment was having Baby Boy weighed (with clothes) at 13 pounds. It went downhill from there. The nurse practitioner said that he would need to be seen by the urologist at the main campus of the hospital. She also wanted an ultrasound done because of his hydrocele (which our very very cautious pediatrician said could wait until he's closer to a year old). They scheduled the appointment for us...for August 22nd. Great. What a waste of our time. Our pediatrician actually contacted us personally to see if we were as annoyed as he was. We were. We'll be discussing everything with him on Friday at Baby Boy's two month checkup.

Besides the crankiness of the last two days, Baby Boy continues to be a really laid back, happy kid. He slept through The Hubby and me having a snack at Panera after the urology appointment. He actually slept in his carrier long enough for me to eat lunch with a friend today. He regularly lays on his play mat and has conversations with his rooster and elephant while I get things done or just (gasp!) take some time to myself where I don't have a baby sleeping on me (which is still his favorite place to sleep and where he gets his longest stretches of sleep). He also loves his bouncy seat and will sit in it and kick hard enough that we have to buckle him in while I shower. I don't mnow if he's more laid back or I am, but many things really are easier with him than they were with Baby Girl. I'd guess it is a combination.

Domestic Goddess

Does anyone else out there feel like all they do is clean and care for their house? Boy, between two kids (especially including one who is breast feeding) and the house, I don't get time to relax!

Whenever I start to think about resting, I remember a load of laundry, the kitchen that needs to be cleaned, a bathroom that needs cleaned, or kids clothes to be organized. Once the everyday stuff is done, I get started on a LONG list of things we want to do before we put the house on the market. I've cleaned off the top of the fridge, the top of the kitchen cabinets, and started working on doing some purging to make the house less cluttered. I rearranged the kitchen cabinets to make room for stuff for Baby Boy since we'll start using bottles very soon. I'm also hoping to get together boxes of things to sell, either in a virtual garage sale that I'm a part of with girls from a message board I belong to or on EBay. I also found out that some of my old textbooks that are at least 10 years old are still worth some money. Three of my Engineering textbooks could make me around $200 in Amazon credits if I sell them to Amazon--woohoo!

Anyway, this is just a post to whine about how much the housework piles up and is never ending. If I'm not nursing the baby, I'm cleaning or organizing something. I'm exhausted and have no idea when or how this stuff is going to get done when I go back to work. The Hubby will help more, but since we have to tag team the kids when they're both awake, it'll be hard to be anything done before bedtime.

Anyone else feel like they're constantly treading water when it comes to housework?

7 Weeks

My big man just keeps growing and growing! We had him out a few times this weekend and whenever anyone asked how old he is they were surprised and thought he was older. People also tell us how adorable he is. I think so, of course, but it is great to hear from other people!

This week Baby Boy got his first cold. I think he got it from me, but we've all been a bit snotty recently. So far (yes, it's still going on) he is only stuffy overnight, so that's good. I've been getting the bathroom steamy before taking my shower and I think it is helping both of us.

I also noticed this week that we've reached the point where he will stand up on my nursing pillow while I try to put him to sleep or burp him. I don't think Baby Girl was doing that until much later.

Baby Boy seems to be sensitive to temperature, which makes me wonder if that's why he isn't sleeping for longer than 3 hours at a time. He sweats when we sit in the sun too long and gets cranky if we stay out too long. He also sweats when he gets angry, which compounds the problem!

Overall, he is a very happy little man who will give a smile to everyone he meets. The only times he gets cranky are when he's tired, when he's awake and expecting to eat, or when he's gassy, which is really rare these days. He babbles like crazy when he's awake and happy--I love hearing everything he has to say!

Paging osuraj!

There's no email address in your profile and it doesn't look like you're active on the message board anymore so I don't know how to contact you about my OB. Leave me an email address here (I moderate all comments and just won't publish it) and I'm happy to talk to you about my doctor.

6 Weeks Old

Although he does seriously change every single day, it is really hard to define exactly how. My little man is smiling and chuckling and flirting with everyone. I think he's the cutest little boy in the world, but I may be a little biased :)

Right at 6 weeks, Baby Boy's acne really started to clear up. It had gotten so bad that his cheeks were bumpy and he even had acne on his scalp. I still thought he was beautiful, of course.

Our daily routine looks approximately like this...sometimes (as he wakes up in the middle of what should be his long nap...):

8 a.m.: Up for the day (I wake with Baby Boy next to me in bed), eat, then play
9 a.m.: Down for nap
10 a.m.: Eat, then playtime
11 a.m.: Down for nap
Noon: Eat, then play
1 p.m.: Down for nap
4 p.m.: Eat, then play
5 p.m.: Start trying to get him down for nap
5:20 p.m.: Baby Girl and The Hubby get home and thwart napping efforts
6:00 p.m.: Rarely a quick nap
7:30 p.m.: nurse and try to get baby to go to sleep
8:00 p.m.: If no nap around 6, baby falls asleep. If nap, then awake time until 9:00
Sleeps approximately 3 hours, then wakes to eat and goes back to sleep. We try to go to bed around the beginning of this sleep period.
Overnight: Wakes every 2-3 hours, eats, then sleeps. Around 5 a.m. I feed him in side-lying position and everyone falls asleep until morning.

One thing to note about sleeping is that we aren't fighting to get him to fall asleep as much. I think the reasons are: 1) we're learning his preferences 2) we aren't letting him get overtired, except in the evenings when it is happening naturally and 3) he is getting older and maybe doesn't need as much walking and everything.

Currently 80-90% of naps are happening on my chest. Should that change? Of course. I also now will only be home full time with him for 3 more weeks and love that snuggle time. So it is a work in progress. He sleeps in his Rock n Play from 8/9 p.m. until 5 a.m., at which time we do some co-sleeping, which makes me slightly uncomfortable, but is working well for our family for now. I imagine when I go back to work everything will change.

How he got here

I started having painful contractions at 4 pm Saturday, April 28 (my due date) and they were immediately 5 or less minutes apart. My in laws were in town so my father-in-law could give an estimate for some work, so we started trying to contact them so they could come watch Baby Girl. They got to the house around 7:30, at which point The Hubby and I started walking the neighborhood. I had to stop every 4-5 minutes during contractions. We had to go inside when it started to rain. Around 10:30 we headed to the hospital after talking with the on-call OB.

We had to stop a few times so I could work through contractions on the way up to L&D. We chatted with the check-in lady, then got a room in triage. I got hooked up to monitors and was checked by the nurse. I was still at 1 cm, so we walked the halls of triage and labor and delivery, stopping periodically when the contractions came so I could grip the wall railings or The Hubby. We called my parents and they came up and walked with us in the outer halls. By 2:30 we were told that we would be sent home because I hadn't dilated any further, so I sadly sent my parents back home (an hour away). The nurse was pretty sure I was in labor, but that it was just really early. I was very frustrated since I met all of the requirements to go to the hospital (and the on-call OB agreed that I should go in). I wasn't looking forward to laboring at home with my 2.5 year old in the next bedroom, either. I asked the nurse how I would know if I couldn't use the frequency or duration of the contractions to judge when to go back and she told me that they would get more intense and that I would "just know". I was exhausted, frustrated, and still having contractions every 5 minutes. I couldn't believe that when we checked in we'd thought we would have a baby very soon.

We stopped at Taco Bell for a snack and got home to find my mother-in-law sleeping on the couch. She thought we would be my parents coming to the house to sleep, so she was pretty confused, so The Hubby stopped to explain things to her while I headed upstairs. I kept contracting every 3-4 minutes overnight. I have never had such a miserable night in my life, sleeping for 2 minutes, then waking for a contraction. The contractions then spaced out to every 10-15 minutes for about an hour late Sunday morning, making me think that I was headed for my C-section that was still scheduled for just 5 days later. During the late morning (I think--it was sort of a blur of exhaustion and trying to hide the pain from my daughter at that point), my parents came and the in-laws went home (The Hubby tells me that his parents left around noon and mine came around 4 and that we took one walk while his parents were still here). I remember feeling nauseous and uninterested in food and I think we did some walking. The contractions started picking up in intensity and around 6:30 we were thinking about heading back to the hospital. I was in enough pain that I went to our bedroom to labor so I didn't have to try to hide it anymore. I had been on my hands and knees on the bed when The Hubby came upstairs. I twisted to sit on my bottom and got a gush of fluid. I couldn't imagine I'd peed myself, but didn't know for sure. I sat on the toilet and got no more fluid, making me even more unsure about it being my water breaking. After consulting with The Hubby, we decided to try the hospital again.

The frequency and intensity of contractions increased more as we headed to the hospital. The ride in was really painful and we had to stop a few times on our walk up to L&D. I was checked at 8:00 and was 3 cm but the nurse didn't think my water had broken. She took a sample and they confirmed my water had broken, so I was admitted. I got settled, chatted with Angie, my awesome nurse, and got my epidural almost immediately because I'd been contracting for 30 hours at that point. I was absolutely exhausted. Angie assured me that typically epidurals don't actually stall out labor (my fear) and that was all I needed to hear. I had one contraction while I lay on my side, but it wasn't horrible. My nurse thought I'd be laboring all night and wasn't confident that she'd meet him by the time she left at 7 a.m. At 10:30 I was 5 cm and able to take a nap around 11:30 (the baby's heart rate didn't like contractions, so I had to roll onto my right side when some alarms started going off--so grateful that my nurse was very low-key about that because it helped keep me calm). Around 12:30 I woke up feeling pressure and after consulting with Angie woke up The Hubby, who had passed out on the little bed/couch. They called the on-call OB (I was nervous about where she lived because the pressure to push was really intense--not painful, just pressure). When she arrived she checked me and I was at 9 cm with only a couple of lips, but baby was still at -1 station. By 1:00 he was at 0 station and the OB agreed to let me try to push, but told me it would be a few hours still. I did a few practice pushes starting at 1:24 with my awesome nurse and she had to call in the OB because we were actually making progress. It took me a little bit to get the hang of how pushing should feel, but with the help of the poles on either side of my bed (holding my own legs wasn't getting it done), I caught on fairly quickly. I was pushing two or three times per contraction, guided by what my body was doing. I was surprised how perfectly placed my epidural was--no one-sidedness, I felt no pain, but still felt the pressure and could feel enough to push.

Nicholas Steven was born at 2:02, weighing 8 lbs 10.5 oz and 20.5 inches long. The Hubby got to wach his arrival, which I think he really appreciated. We had no complications whatsoever besides my 3rd degree tear. From water breaking to delivery was only 7 hours. Wow! It felt even faster than that, honestly.

I remember them putting him on my chest, holding him, singing to him, and staring at all of him. Because of some meconium in the fluid, they had the pediatrics team in the room, but they weren't needed because he was breathing fine. He did seem a little phlegmy, so they suctioned him quite a bit. They took him to the warmer after awhile and got his stats, then returned him to my arms where I was able to breast feed for the first time.

The tear repair was the most painful part of the process. The OB used all of the numbing injections that she had available. I was holding my little man and twitching from the pain. I was just glad that I had him as a distraction part of the time.

Once I was stitched, I'd nursed the baby, and the room was cleaned up (that was gross...there was a lot of blood), I was loaded into a wheelchair and taken to my room. I got settled in and we contacted friends and family.

-----
Next I'll write about my recovery and the differences between this and my scheduled C-section. If you have any specific questions you'd like to have me answer, please ask in the comments!

5 weeks

Going to do this post in a list format because that's all my brain can handle right now :)

Went to the doctor for his one month appointment:
Weight: 11 lbs 5 oz (90th percentile--Baby Girl was 9 lbs 0 oz)
Length: 22 inches (60th percentile--Baby Girl was 21 inches)
Head circumference: 39 cm (75th percentile--Baby Girl was 38 cm)

Got the second in the Hepatitis B series and we didn't notice any reaction.

- Soothed by shushing, spending time outside, swaying, walking, and patting
- Gets very angry and doesn't sleep well when overtired. Many times needs to be nursed to sleep
- Doesn't sleep more than 30 minutes in the swing, if at all
- Eating every two hours from the middle of the night (2 or 2:30) until early evening (8:00ish). We typically get a three hour stretch from 8 to 11 and then 11 to 2. Some days I get a long nap during the afternoon.
- Gassiness seems to be quite a bit better, but we've been noticing some really angry cries over the last day or so and aren't sure if something else has upset his tummy or if it's just normal baby fussiness
- Doesn't like the bouncy seat
- Has quite a bit of baby acne on his face and upper chest
- Wearing 0-3 mo size clothes and may need to move to 3-6 mo in Gerber brand onesies, which are known for being small.
- Doesn't seem to be losing too much hair yet
- Prefers to sleep on his side and will only sleep on tummy if already sleeping
- Grunts for a couple hours at a time until he poops or passes gas toward the end of the night
- Still has the startle and falling reflexes, but I can tell they're starting to go away
- Can purposefully put his hands into his mouth and slurps on them to soothe himself
- Definitely smiling in response to our faces and voices. He smiles with his entire body and makes a crappy day way better
- When he sneezes, he emits a little sigh that makes him sound satisfied and makes me smile every time

Hawaiian Turkey Burgers

...or an alternate title could be "What I Threw Together for Dinner".

The benefit to going to the grocery in the middle of the week has been getting meat on Manager's Special. When I go on Sundays there usually isn't anything in the case, but I've gotten boneless pork loin chops and ground turkey (93/7) for great prices recently. To further change things up, I went to the store without a list or meal plan for the first time in years. That was dumb! I need to go back to get ingredients to finish out some meals now, which is frustrating.

Anyway, I remembered the ground turkey that I put in the freezer last week and thought I'd do some turkey burgers, so I picked up buns. When I was working on dinner in my head, I thought of ways to jazz it up a bit. Below is the "recipe" I created.

Hawaiian Turkey Burgers

1 pound ground turkey
Teriyaki sauce, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
1 Vidalia onion
1 T butter
1 T honey
1 medium fresh pineapple
BBQ sauce, to taste
Hamburger buns

Combine first three ingredients in a medium bowl and form into four patties. Heat large skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Preheat oven to low broil setting. Place patties in large preheated skillet. Melt butter and honey in small skillet and slice onion while you wait. Place onions in honey butter mixture and stir to coat. While onions and burgers are cooking, slice fresh pineapple. Stir onions frequently. When burgers are halfway done, flip them and cook on the other side. Once onions are carmelized, place in a bowl in the microwave to keep warm. Use small skillet to cook pineapple a bit. While pineapple is cooking, place buns (cut side up) on a cookie sheet in the oven. Remove once they start to toast. Assemble burgers and top with BBQ sauce. I served with corn on the cob.

(please excuse the instructions--this is my first time writing a recipe!)

One Month

My sweet little man, Today you are one month old. You are my big boy and look a lot like your sister did when she was a bit older than you are now. I don't know if you are markedly different from her or if we just have a different outlook, but I definitely treat you differently. I let you cry a little sometimes when I'm in the middle of something, I generally make the choice to snuggle you for nap instead of feeling trapped in my chair for every nap, I leave you alone while I put in a load of laundry, and I don't stress as much about making sure you're enriched all of the time--sometimes it is good for you to just lay on a blanket and wiggle. And wiggle you do. When we put you on your belly, you immediately start squirming. You spin in circles and have even rolled over a couple of times when your chest was slightly elevated. Mr. Man, you sure do know how to let us know when you aren't happy. The first sign is your boxing arms--you start flailing your arms with closed fists and with your long arms and big hands, you look like you want to take a swing at us. Then you start that whiny wind-up. And then you start to cry in earnest. And when your face turns purple and you start making coughing noises (not actually choking, though), we know you're really worked up. To tell you the truth, the only time we see your purple face is when you're tired. We apparently don't create good sleepers in this house. Your Daddy and I are still trying to decipher your sleep habits. You're obviously getting overtired much of the time, but when we try to put you down earlier, you just lay there awake for a long time. You already have trained us to coax you to sleep, a habit that we don't want to persist. The best way to get you to go to sleep is to walk with you outside because you love the heat of the sun and the motion of walking. I, however, am not recovered enough to walk as much as you need, which leads to a lot of frustration on both of our parts. And, much to my frustration, nursing isn't knocking you out anymore! Speaking of nursing, you are a great eater. In the past month, you've gone from being a sleepy eater who I struggled to keep awake through a nursing session to a really efficient eater. Something you do that is really different from your sister in this aspect is that you typically pop off when you're done eating, whereas she would stay latched for hours if I'd let her, just for the comfort. As exhausting as that was, I always knew that I had magic that would put her to sleep and relax her no matter what. While you are soothed by nursing, you're also a very active nurser and have been known to grunt and groan and cry even while nursing. At one month old, our routine looks like: wake up, eat (takes 15-20 minutes), play (20-60 minutes--this is what happens when I'm playing with figuring out your habits), then 20 minutes to get you to sleep. Sometimes the coaxing takes so long that I end up nursing you to sleep. You typically sleep 45 minutes to a couple of hours, depending on the time of day (you sleep best in the afternoon). If you've already had at least one long sleep or you didn't have an awake period, I will sometimes wake you 2 hours after you last ate, at the suggestion of the pediatrician. Trust me, I won't be waking you much longer, especially now that you aren't necessarily staying awake for playtime overnight every night anymore. The biggest physical trait that you exhibit is GASSY! Lol I'm sure you'll love knowing that someday. You grunt for the majority of the day and usually spend 4-6 a.m. grunting, much to the dismay of your parents! In an effort to help with your gassiness, I have been dairy-free (although I'm not really strict about it--just avoiding the obvious dairy products and not using any substitutions) for a weeks and a half. You haven't woken up screaming nearly as often, so I'm hoping it is helping. When I'm feeling brave again, I'm going to try eating a bit of cheese or yogurt to see what happens and pray that your body has matured enough to handle some dairy. Not eating cheese (especially pizza) is killing me!! The last couple of days I could swear we're starting to get genuine smiles. You smile at me when I fake sneeze and I've caught you just gazing at me when I'm not paying attention. You are curious about the world around you, which is detrimental to your sleep, but endearing otherwise. I honestly can't wait to see how your personalize develops over time and am trying to cherish the time I have at home with you as much as possible. The days haven't been all sunshine and roses, but we're managing and we're both still learning. Love always, Mommy

40 Weeks

I'm going to entirely bypass my normal weekly update categories, especially since I posted an update on Friday after my doctor appointment. Instead I'm going to tell you about how I spent my due date yesterday. We were having a normal Saturday, cleaning and hanging out. Baby Girl had a rough go at napping, so Mommy and Daddy were annoyed and on edge. Just before 4:00 pm, I had my first truly painful contraction. I looked at The Hubby and told him that if it happened again, then I was pretty sure it was the real deal. Sure enough, about 6 minutes later it happened again. The contractions continued and The Hubby and I started doing our last minute things to prepare for baby while I was timing and then tried to get ahold of my in-laws, who happened to be in town. We'd thought we would see my in-laws... ------- 5/25/12 I wasn't going to publish this or was going to incorporate it into my birth story post, but found this partially-written post too funny not to publish on its own. I wrote this on 4/29/12, the day we ended up being admitted to the hospital. No more than 24 hours after writing this, we had a baby in our arms.

Three Weeks

My baby is officially not a newborn anymore. He doesn't fit into newborn diapers (we switched about a week ago when he kept peeing on me while I nursed him) and I think today is the last day he'll be wearing newborn size clothes. His poor little legs are too long for the sleeper he's in today. I think unwashed newborn size stuff will fit still, but if it has been washed, forget it. Developmentally, he seems to be dropping the newborn title, too. His head control has always been impressive, but he is at a point where I don't feel like I need to support it at all. When he is on your shoulder, he is always looking around. Like his big sister, Baby Boy stares over your shoulder while beng burped when sitting in the recliner. It is like they see someone behind you. They say children can see ghosts, so I find some comfort in thinking that some of our dearly departed are watching over my kids. Within the last couple of days, he has also developed a case of baby acne. It started with a couple of spots on his cheeks and forehead, but now most of his forehead is covered...just in time for our family photos yesterday! It isn't too bad, though, and hopefully will clear up soon. The last few days also brought the phase I hated most about infancy--spitting up. Ugh. He doesn't do it after every feeding, but he does it a fair amount. He remains a very gassy baby and we fight to get burps out of him each time he eats. He's also still fighting with gas pains that he struggles to relieve out the other end. After a good amount of screaming last night (which could be attributed to him being overtired after our photo session) The Hubby and I are both considering going dairy-free. I've already cut back, but couldn't resist the cheese and sour cream on my Chipotle... I've planned another week of dairy-free meals. Boring, but if it works, it is worth it. We'll try it for a week or so and if it helps, I'll stay dairy-free for a few months, at least. I'm just happy I have The Hubby's support. I wasn't going to ask him to be dairy-free, but he actually texted me today saying "Maybe we should both go a few days dairy free to see if that helps". I will say, though, that Baby Boy is a complete joy when he isn't screaming with gas pain. He still has awake periods of 1.5 hours when he stays awake. These seem to happen most often in the morning, and he passes back out after eating almost every time during the afternoon. He will lay content on his Boppy, on the floor, or in your arms when he is awake. He loves to look around. When he does nap, it is almost exclusively on his side in the Rock n Play (or on someone, of course...I still love that feeling and let him do it a fair amount). P.S. I was mistaken when I said that his eyes had changed to brown. They're still a very dark grey-blue, but I have no doubt that they'll be brown very soon.

Two Weeks

It has been two weeks since I gave birth to my little man and it is amazing how much he's changed. He's already more alert and awake. He can be awake for an hour and a half after a nap (this includes time that he's sleepily eating). He is a pooping machine. Seriously. He honestly poops at least 4 times a day, but usually much, much more. And of course he doesn't do it discreetly. I don't know if this is a trait of all breast fed babies, all babies, or just mine, but his big sister did the same thing. We had a weight check with the pediatrician last Friday. As a reminder, his birth weight was 8 lbs 10.5 oz. His discharge weight was 8 lbs 2 oz. Two days later he was back up at 8 lbs 10 oz. We went back in a week after our first pediatrician appointment and he was 9 lbs 2 oz. Half a pound in one week! The weird thing to me is that he stayed virtually the same (67th percentile versus 68th) on the weight-for-age growth chart. I did check the WHO chart when I got home and his weight is over the 85th percentile according to that, which is supposed to be more accurate for breast fed babies. Not important, just interesting. Either way, he's growing well and the doctor noted his great head control again. At 10 days old, Baby Boy rolled from tummy to back twice. They were separate instances, which makes me slightly less convinced that it was a fluke, but I'd guess that's what it was...for now :) I notice that I am SO much more relaxed this time around. For instance, he's fussing in the swing right now and I'm going to try to let him work it out. The only crying I can't handle is when it sounds like he's in pain, which does happen frequently due to gas issues. He'll wake up screaming like someone is pinching him, which isn't a particularly fun way to wake in the middle of the night for Mommy and Daddy. We get him into a position on our shoulder and pound on his back until he feels better. The Hubby went and bought some gripe water, which we were prepared to use last night if needed, but then didn't really need it (thank goodness). I'm trying to enjoy every smile, every noise, every movement, because I know this time is going to go incredibly quickly. I still don't know when I will return to work, but even while I'm home with him I know he will change before my eyes and I don't want to miss a second of it.

Fun with the toddler

Baby Girl loves helping change her little brother's poopy diapers. She's always asking if he has pooped. Today she started air drumming. Her favorite part is the cymbal. At the end, she says "my mom rocks and my dad rolls" while making the two finger rock and roll sign and then rolling her arms. Cracks me up! Tonight we had salads for dinner and she actually did really well, even once the ranch dressing was gone. She had bell peppers, lettuce, cheese carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, ham, turkey, and hard-boiled eggs. It seems that the rule of "absence makes the heart grow fonder" holds true for Baby Girl and food. Her current favorite foods seem to be eggs and peanut butter, foods we weren't able to introduce until a few months ago. She is currently making up things that Baby Boy is saying in his babble. She swears he just said "elephant".

One Week

How has it been a full week since I gave birth to this little man sleeping on my chest? How has it ONLY been a week since he came into our lives? At one week old, Baby Boy isn't doing much other than eating and sleeping and he's doing a ton of both. When he was born, he slept A LOT. We were going 3 and 4 hour stretches between feedings, which was okay with me at the time! Little did I know that the sleepiness was a byproduct of his jaundice. Once my milk came in on Day 3 we stopped counting wet diapers because we could no longer keep track because he was eating so well. We went to the doctor for a check-up on day 5 and he suggested that we start waking Baby Boy every 2 hours to eat to help him sleep longer at night, so we have been doing that. Last night was the first night that we didn't have an extended wakeful period, so I think that's a win! The big thing that we've noticed over the past couple of days has been an increase in happy wakeful periods. We're typically getting two per day and each is about an hour long. He is content to lay in your arms, on a Boppy, in the swing, or in the Rock n Play. He makes happy little noises, looks around, and shows little smiles (which obviously aren't real smiles, but they are nice anyway). Baby Boy sleeps best on someone's chest (which I am currently enjoying), but has spent extended periods of time sleeping in the swing and in the Rock n Play. The goal is to get him sleeping in the Rock n Play overnight, but I am loving this snuggly period and enjoying every second (as opposed to my time with Baby Girl--I remember feeling trapped under her). We've noticed that Baby Boy tucks his left foot up under himself when he sleeps on us and turns it a little funny. It's something we'll keep an eye on. This past weekend (first noticed on Sunday at 6 days old) we found that Baby Boy's eyes have changed from dark grey-blue to a brown with some gold. I'm guessing they will be very dark like his big sister's. Stats: Birth (Monday) weight: 8 lbs 10.5 oz Birth length: 20.5 inches Discharge (Wednesday) weight: 8 lbs 2 oz Doctor (Friday) weight: 8 lbs 10 oz (68th percentile) Doctor length: 20 inches (51st percentile) Doctor head circumference: 36 cm (50th percentile...) Everything at the pediatrician checked out okay. While the doctor was pleased with his weight, he still wants to check it again this coming Friday. He also noticed that Baby Boy has a little bit of asymmetry in his hips, so at a month old we'll be going for a hip ultrasound. We had a hip ultrasound for Baby Girl because she was breech, so we've been through this before.

Another Update

I had my follow-up doctor appointment today.  No more progress.  Nothing.  The 7 hours of contractions I had Wednesday night did nothing measurable.  Still 1 cm, soft, thick, 0% effaced, head not engaged.  My doctor says she'd give me a 50% chance of definitely vaginally at this point.


She did strip my membranes (again), which hurt like a son of a bitch.  Hopefully it's more effective than last time and will kick-start labor, but I'm not holding my breath or crossing any fingers or anything.  I'm crampy, as I would expect.


I did gain 2 pounds in 3 days, which I thought was impressive.  :)


My C-section is now scheduled for Thursday, May 3rd at 4:00 p.m.  I'm happy that I'm going to get almost a full week to go into labor on my own, but bummed about the time of day.  4:00 p.m. is fairly horrible when you've got a kid you want to introduce to her baby brother.  


The timeline of my last C-section was:


Scheduled start time: 8 a.m.
Delivery time: 9:04 a.m.
Back to recovery: 10 a.m.
Finally able to lift my butt up enough to be sent to my room: noon
Get settled into room and finally get to have my baby: 1 p.m.
Get to EAT (will have to stop eating at 8 a.m. next Thursday): it was either 3 or 4 p.m.


Shift all of that the appropriate amount of hours and it's going to be a LATE night for everyone.  


Emotionally I'm feeling really pessimistic and depressed about the whole thing.  I feel doubtful and frustrated.  I'm also really not looking forward to all of the "you're still pregnant?" and "you poor thing" and "when are you due?" and all of that for the next 6 days.