3 months

I think three months is when you stop counting the weeks and move into months. It is just too confusing for the rest of the world that 12 weeks is not 3 months. So we will just do "a little over three months" or whatever. Anyway, in three days X you really are three months old.

This month has been an amazing journey. I feel like you have changed so much, which is heartbreaking and rewarding simultaneously. I am sure your brain and development were just as strong in the first two months of life outside, but for those watching you, month three has been the most noticeable. I loved the baby you were, but I adore the little boy you are today. You are so much fun. You smile and laugh, you play and occupy yourself if I need you to, but you still love to snuggle and sleep in my arms. You hold my hand when you sleep and "kiss" me (essentially wipe your open mouth across my cheek and giggle). You love to sit up and play. Your favorite song is ba ba black sheep and you will just laugh when I sing it. I just know I will miss this time when I am your absolute favorite toy. You never want to be put down, but you will tolerate it. I dread the day when you tell me to put you down so you can play alone.

This month was a big one. We went to Kansas where you were a huge hit. Your great grandparents loved you of course, but you were a HUGE fan of great grandpa Jim. You, like always, were a happy baby and just smiled and laughed at everyone. You actually slept quite well in the hotel. The only issue was the car, which you hated, but to be fair we stuck you in a car seat for 20 hours out of 96 hours--and that doesn't count all of the driving around in Kansas.

When we got back from Kansas your dad had to go to Iowa for two weeks (it ended up being 10 days). That is when you and I really learned how to make our life work. Being a single parent is not something I ever want to do, but I can do it. We made it. Dad still isn't home for more than an hour when you are awake, but that will change in another week. You are a little reserved around your dad now, but you will get over it soon.

On the other hand grandma Roberta spent a lot of time with us and you love her. She is your favorite person to sleep on and she can always calm you down, which is almost never needed. We go grocery shopping together, or to the mall, or for a walk, and you love all of it.

You also really like Sophie the giraffe, your play mat and rocking chair and a bug that vibrates. You mostly like anything soft and love to have baby massages or your face tickled. You are incredible strong and like to stand up and wave your arms about very similarly to godzilla. You can sit unassisted for a short period of time, but if I lean you back you spend every second trying to do crunches to sit up. You are becoming very independent and active. Plus, you are a talker, we have entire conversations and while your dad was away you talked to him every night on the phone.

I just love you so much little man, I love the age that you are and I am so scared of you growing up too fast. Happy 3 month birthday.

8 Weeks

Another almost month. Really, why can a month not just be for weeks? Anyway, X you have been here for 8 weeks and in that time you have completely changed me and dad's lives. Dad has gone back to work more than full time so that I can stay home with you which is awful, but it makes it possible for me to stay home with you, and we both believe that is the most important. You stayed alone with dad for quite a few hours so that I could go to the doctor, and you cried the whole time. Thanks for showing dad how difficult you can be sometimes. Overall though, even with that day, you are a happy baby. You don't really like tummy time anymore, but prefer to sit up and check out the world. You are also opposed to being carried facing inwards as you would rather check out the world. Recently you have discovered toys and love a little cloth monkey and a peacock with different textures and colors. More than anything you love a monkey mobile that is a complete piece of junk. You have a very nice, expensive mobile that you sometimes like, but the monkeys, they are SO funny. You just laugh and laugh at them. You spend most of your day smiling at me, laughing, making faces and practicing sticking out your tongue. You grow a lot and fast, but in the last week have slowed down. You currently weigh 13 pounds and 7 ounces, 4 pounds more than when you were born. You are 23 inches long. This puts you in the very large, over 90th percentile reading. Today you got two shots, a DTaP and a HIB. You cried for a minute and then stopped when daddy held you. I think it was harder for me than you. As I write this you are in your rocking chair, playing with your peacock and laughing at me. You still dislike socks, but you hate being cold, so we make you wear them. Everyone who meets you loves you and you get lots of compliments from strangers. You are such a happy baby and just want attention. I could sit all day and just play with you. Well, that is what I do most days. I still have not figured out how to put you down and take a shower, but I am sure I will get there. I just love you so much little man.

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Week 4

Almost a month. I can't believe you have been with us, well out of my belly, for almost a month. I can't believe how much I love you. This week you grew a ton and had your first growth spurt, which meant you wanted to eat all.of.the.time. Mommy is still having a hard time breastfeeding, so that was rough, but we are working through it. You love to breastfeed, but now are not always as sleepy afterwards. Sometimes you just want to play and mommy misses out on the snuggle time that she used to always get. You also seem less interested in tummy time, but bath time is still super fun. You love to eat your hands and play with us. You are starting to smile when you hear and see us and make more noises to show you are happy or upset. This week we went to your first music class. You slept through most of it, then cried a little. Then we went to Amy's to visit and your cousin Rebecca checked you out for awhile while Amy held you. Everyone is so in love with you. Afterwards we went to grandma's house for the first time where you slept, and slept and slept. We tried to wake you up, that you did not like that idea at all. Then this weekend we went to Wash Park with Allison, Ben and Otto and walked around a lot. You had a hard morning that day, so again you slept but we let you. Sadly, dad went back to work yesterday and mommy and you had our first night alone. It was hard, you didn't want to sleep and mommy really did. But we made it through okay. Today you took your first nap in your crib. It was somewhat successful, you slept there, but only if I rocked you to sleep every 15 minutes. That is okay, that is the parenting strategy we are going with, plus I love rocking you just as much as you love to be rocked. Happy four week birthday little man.

Yet Another App

I wrote a really long post about breastfeeding. I REALLY long one. And I waited to get a posting confirmation, and where is that post? Yeah, I don't know either. So I uninstalled that app and found another. Hopefully it works better. If I'm less annoyed tomorrow I'll try to rewrite it. It took about an hour to write though!

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Mother F

So, at like 5 am I write blog posts, on my phone, using an app, with one hand. Usually it works well, but twice now they've disappeared. What the fuck?! And in my sleep deprived state I can't even remember what I Blogged. All I remember is that I wrote about how our new dishwasher fucked up our pump by melting the sucky part, like the part that makes it suck literally. And I wrote about how much I love X after I nurse him and he snuggles and makes lovey sounds. The other entry was way better.



There two parts should be identical.

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Week 3

I wanted to make posts at the end of every week documenting X and his adventures in this world, but it is way harder to find time to post than I thought it would be. So here we are at three weeks old and I haven't documented anything, and I am already forgetting things because it is just so much--I don't think your brain has room for any of it. X is now 20 days old and already so different than the baby I had in the hospital. This week he met my dad who he was named after, his cousins Suza, Skip, Jena, Lexi and Pat. We went to a breastfeeding support group that was a bust, but he is growing great. We have also been treating his first rash, which really sucks because we can't use cloth diapers until it clears up. Luckily, it doesn't seem to bother him at all. I think his umbilical cord stump may have fallen out this week too, but it may have been last week. Either way, it is gone, which is good because it was yucky. Now he has a cute little outtie. I am not sure when it fell out, but if it was this week he also had his first real bath. He didn't like it, but he didn't hate it either. He liked having the water poured over him, but not being washes to much. Essentially, he doesn't like having his arms and legs pulled on. But he smelled so good when it was done. We have also been walking a lot--using an Ergo, a Mei Tai carrier and a ring sling. The ergo is the most comfortable, but it is hot. He like walking. He also loves his daddy and hanging out with him. He will just sit and stare at him for hours, or sleep on his chest. In the last few days he has become a little more independent and will let us put him in his rocker or swing a for a little while if he is dead asleep. He also has taken to a pacifier--I am torn on this as I hate seeing babies with pacifiers, but he sure loves it and it calms him down. He loves tummy time and is very strong, holding his head up for close to a minute at a time, and not a little bit up, a lot up. He still loves to snuggle and be held most of the time and hates waking up. It takes him about 30 minutes of fussing to actually wake up, which is great for mommy and daddy because we have that time to prepare for him or to wake up ourselves. I love this little guy so much.

Week 1

I have the cutest baby ever.