The many faces of Steve...
And chilling with Daddy...
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Smiling!
About a week ago, Steve started smiling at me during his alert times. At first I thought it was a fluke, but it became more consistent over the following days. My dad told me it couldn't be "real" smiling, that it must be gas or just a reflex, but I swore they were intentional, that he was smiling with his eyes, and that they were lasting too long to be reflexive. Well, Wednesday at his well baby check the pediatrician witnessed the smiling and confirmed it was real social smiling. Apparently most babies don't do this until about 2 months, so he's a bit ahead of the curve. I guess that extra 11 days of cooking helped.
I swear every shot I have of him has some blurry part--the kid is a wriggler!
On Wednesday he weighed 10#, 6 oz and was 23", so he's gained 2 pounds (not counting what he lost and gained back after birth) and 2 inches since birth. I guess he's getting enough to eat!
Because we see him every day we don't notice as readily how much he's grown. Although Mike did comment the other day as he was putting him in the car seat how much bigger he is than when we brought him home.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
One month!
One month today. Time is relative. On the one hand I can't believe it's been already been a month, and on the other hand I can't believe it's only been a month. I feel like the time has flown but it's also been a lot of work and that makes it seem so much longer!
Steve is doing well--we have our evening fussy times, but thankfully Mike is home then to help switch off who holds him and walks with him and holds the pacifier in place and gets their back whacked out while sitting and bouncing with him on the yoga ball. But he's much better at napping without being held and is getting a little better at being awake and quiet without being held if I need to make myself a sandwich or put things away or do a little laundry. Again, I keep reminding myself that things will keep changing and getting better, so I try not to get too worried when we don't have the best day. In fact, just last night he fell asleep for the first time with Mike holding and rocking him, rather than with me feeding him. I had been worried that he might always need a "nightcap" to fall asleep, but last night proved that isn't the case! Now we just need to work towards being able to put him down while he is drowsy and just starting to fall asleep, rather than when he's already out. All in good time...
But you didn't come to the blog to read all of this. You came for pictures! First, a little comparison...
Steve is doing well--we have our evening fussy times, but thankfully Mike is home then to help switch off who holds him and walks with him and holds the pacifier in place and gets their back whacked out while sitting and bouncing with him on the yoga ball. But he's much better at napping without being held and is getting a little better at being awake and quiet without being held if I need to make myself a sandwich or put things away or do a little laundry. Again, I keep reminding myself that things will keep changing and getting better, so I try not to get too worried when we don't have the best day. In fact, just last night he fell asleep for the first time with Mike holding and rocking him, rather than with me feeding him. I had been worried that he might always need a "nightcap" to fall asleep, but last night proved that isn't the case! Now we just need to work towards being able to put him down while he is drowsy and just starting to fall asleep, rather than when he's already out. All in good time...
But you didn't come to the blog to read all of this. You came for pictures! First, a little comparison...
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| one day |
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| one month |
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| one day |
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| one month |
And some more recent pics...
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| Thanks for the outfit, Kris and Dan! |
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| my favorite napping spot! |
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Future dentist?
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| Open wide, Daddy! |
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| Now we'll check the top teeth... |
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| And now the bottom teeth... |
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| And now we'll see if my whole hand can fit in your mouth! |
Quiet Alert Time
It is a little known fact, but I usually get Wednesday afternoon off when I am in clinic, which typically means that I get approximately one afternoon off a month. Today was that day, which was nice.
Karen swears that Steven has quiet, alert time during the day, usually after his morning nap. However, Daddy never gets to see this. By the time Daddy arrives home every day, Steven is in full-bore meltdown mode. Once Daddy swoops in to protect Mommy from the wrath of our young son, Steven calms down a bit. But the evening hours are generally filled with the fuss-eat-fuss-diaper-fuss-lullaby-fuss-eat-fuss-diaper-fuss-bounce-fuss... which often only stops when he finally goes down for the night around 11 PM.
Today, however, I got home shortly after one, and Steven was taking a nap! (Proves it can be done.) Then he woke up, and we went for a walk around the neighborhood, during which he slept a bit. Then he had a meal, got a diaper change, and had quiet alert time for well over an hour. At one point, he managed to punch my tonsils. Karen has pictures. Ask nicely, and she may add them to the blog.
Tuesday was 4 weeks, and tomorrow makes one month. He's healthy and gaining weight. He even slept mostly through the night two nights ago. He is trying, but he still can't throw a baseball. If I can figure out how to film it, I hope to post video of his throwing motion soon.
Karen swears that Steven has quiet, alert time during the day, usually after his morning nap. However, Daddy never gets to see this. By the time Daddy arrives home every day, Steven is in full-bore meltdown mode. Once Daddy swoops in to protect Mommy from the wrath of our young son, Steven calms down a bit. But the evening hours are generally filled with the fuss-eat-fuss-diaper-fuss-lullaby-fuss-eat-fuss-diaper-fuss-bounce-fuss... which often only stops when he finally goes down for the night around 11 PM.
Today, however, I got home shortly after one, and Steven was taking a nap! (Proves it can be done.) Then he woke up, and we went for a walk around the neighborhood, during which he slept a bit. Then he had a meal, got a diaper change, and had quiet alert time for well over an hour. At one point, he managed to punch my tonsils. Karen has pictures. Ask nicely, and she may add them to the blog.
Tuesday was 4 weeks, and tomorrow makes one month. He's healthy and gaining weight. He even slept mostly through the night two nights ago. He is trying, but he still can't throw a baseball. If I can figure out how to film it, I hope to post video of his throwing motion soon.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Small victories
The large health organization here, Spectrum, has a breastfeeding support group every Tuesday and Thursday. They like to say that they don't like the term "support group", because while they do provide help and advice (there are 2 lactation consultants there) and moms can share stories and provide support and advice for each other, you don't have to be having a problem with breastfeeding to attend and benefit. I've been a few times, partly for advice but also just to get out of the house and be around other women who are going through the same thing I am. And of course, just to have some adult company!
Anyway, at the beginning of every group they have us go around and introduce ourselves and our baby, and then we have to share one thing we've done for ourselves in the past week. And they always make a point to say that, especially for new moms, just getting out of the house and coming to the group can be something! People often share things like going out with friends, buying new clothes, even things like taking the time in the shower to shave their legs. I have to say that knowing I will be going to the group and having to come up with something to share has made me more mindful of what I am doing for myself lately. And I'm trying to remember that even small things like doing my nails or my New York Times crossword puzzle can count when I only have a limited amount of time while Steve's asleep.
So this morning while Steve was sleeping I managed to clean the sinks and toilets in all three bathrooms, plus the shower in the master bath which was starting to become little questionable. It was completely unglamorous and not something that you might think I was doing for myself, but just doing something "normal" like cleaning felt like an accomplishment, and of course having things clean, whether it's yourself or your house, is always nice.
Of course, by doing that I forfeited the opportunity to take a nap while Steve was sleeping, so I hope he'll have another go round this afternoon. His new ability to nap has pluses and minuses, the biggest minus being that he no longer goes for a 4 to 5 hour stretch at night, but only 2.5 to 3 hours at a time, with a nasty alert time around 1 or 2 am, so I'm up with him for about 2 hours in the middle of the night. The pediatrician had told us that more napping shouldn't affect his nighttime habits, but she appears to be mistaken. I keep telling myself that almost everything he does at this age is just a phase, and things will get better eventually!
Anyway, at the beginning of every group they have us go around and introduce ourselves and our baby, and then we have to share one thing we've done for ourselves in the past week. And they always make a point to say that, especially for new moms, just getting out of the house and coming to the group can be something! People often share things like going out with friends, buying new clothes, even things like taking the time in the shower to shave their legs. I have to say that knowing I will be going to the group and having to come up with something to share has made me more mindful of what I am doing for myself lately. And I'm trying to remember that even small things like doing my nails or my New York Times crossword puzzle can count when I only have a limited amount of time while Steve's asleep.
So this morning while Steve was sleeping I managed to clean the sinks and toilets in all three bathrooms, plus the shower in the master bath which was starting to become little questionable. It was completely unglamorous and not something that you might think I was doing for myself, but just doing something "normal" like cleaning felt like an accomplishment, and of course having things clean, whether it's yourself or your house, is always nice.
Of course, by doing that I forfeited the opportunity to take a nap while Steve was sleeping, so I hope he'll have another go round this afternoon. His new ability to nap has pluses and minuses, the biggest minus being that he no longer goes for a 4 to 5 hour stretch at night, but only 2.5 to 3 hours at a time, with a nasty alert time around 1 or 2 am, so I'm up with him for about 2 hours in the middle of the night. The pediatrician had told us that more napping shouldn't affect his nighttime habits, but she appears to be mistaken. I keep telling myself that almost everything he does at this age is just a phase, and things will get better eventually!
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