Saturday, August 30, 2008

3 Month Update!

Wowzer how time flies!! Our little guy is 3 months by date (13 weeks by week count) and is doing great! He is a non-stop talker and is trying oh-so-hard to crawl. The other morning he pushed his way across daddy while we were laying in bed! He was weighed last monday and he rang in at a not-so-small 16 lbs. He's about 24.5 inches long now, and is rapidly outgrowing all his clothes. This week I bought him some 6-9 month onesies and I am hoping he'll at least get 1 wear out of them before they have to be retired.

Some firsts this week:

  • First Laugh- See the post one before this one. There's even a video of it!
  • Sticking out his tongue- Not sure if he just likes the feel of his tongue around his lips, or he's exploring his mouth, or if he's concentrating really hard, but it's absolutely adorable.
  • Sleeping for longer periods- 3 nights in a row he slept for 6 hours straight before his first feeding of the night! He did it again last night and it was awesome. Downside, I am totally soaked from breast milk by the time 5 AM rolls around.....ah, the adventure of breastfeeding continues.
  • Grabbing his toes- He discovered his toes a few weeks ago but now he's finally making an attempt to touch them now. He gets really frustrated if he can't touch them right away, but he's working on that muscle control very well.
  • Facing forward during walks in his slings- He LOVES this!!! I wear him facing forward in the Moby Wrap and daddy wears him facing forward in the Bjorn. Oh he just loves being able to see everything. During our morning walks, if I stop to talk to a neighbor, now he is able to contribute much better in the conversation!
  • Move to cloth diapers- This is something I really wanted to do since the beginning but we just never got around to putting together an order. There are SO many options for cloth diapers. Our adventure in cloth diapering will have to be for a completely different post...there is just too much. He really is adorable in them, though.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Some mother's time....

The boys are asleep upstairs and I just wasn't ready to turn in for the night yet (which is crazy since we've been running around crazy the past few days, I could use the rest) so I decided to come downstairs for some "me time." "Me time" certainly is elusive since Julian was born. Lately it's consisted of stolen seconds to respond to emails or personal hygiene matters. From what I am hearing, it is a mother's constant battle to balance her time to get some time for herself and this imbalance I am going through is quite normal. I don't know if "imbalance" is the right word- maybe "absence" would be more fitting, but "imbalance" feels right at about 10:27 PM so I'm going with it.

A few weeks ago, during a hormonal roller coaster ride and an intense need to go to sleep on the kitchen floor, I was explaining to Thad my time pie chart. If the entirety of my time is 100%, Julian takes up about 90% of that (if not more). I need to split the remaining 10% between the dogs, the cats, Thad, house chores, and myself. Before I had Julian, between reading a ridiculous amount of "when baby arrives" literature, and seeing what has happened to countless women before me, I vowed to take care of myself. Especially after the labor we went through, I couldn't afford not to take care of myself if it would have a negative impact on my ability to care for Julian.
During my first couple weeks postpartum I was quickly realizing that I couldn't afford to always put others first if I was going to recover smoothly and safely.

I have always been the type of person to put others first and I realize that has left me with the short-end of the stick many, many times. Thad says that becoming a mother has enabled me to speak up for myself more and be more of a self-advocate. I don't know if this is a good thing, especially when I need to be dedicating myself to Julian and helping him thrive. It is incredibly hard not to throw everything I have- and then some- into this little baby, but if I don't learn to figure out how to keep something for myself I just don't know what will be left. I found this quote during some bopping around on the Interweb...I found it to be quite accurate to how I'm feeling right now:

"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new." ~Rajneesh

I envy the woman who jumps into motherhood as easily as a monkey jumps from a branch. It's not easy and yet it's the most incredible adventure I've ever begun.

By Louay Kayali

Monday, August 25, 2008

We have laughs!

After repeated sounds of "eh eh eh eh" when daddy says, "stinky foot" to him, Julian laughed for the first time today!!! Yesterday we thought we heard a giggle when he was looking at his bears but today, it is confirmed.



We have laughs!!! Oh man, it just gets better and better.....here's a video:



Friday, August 15, 2008

My Social Butterfly

We are lucky to be surrounded by a lot of babies.....

Bradley Babies
We've been very fortunate to see our Bradley group usually about once a week. We started with our weekly get togethers shortly after our class ended in April and have continued up to now. Our Bradley instructor was due with her second child around the same time as all of us with our firsts so total there are 6 of us with new babies from that class.

Taken when Julian was 2 weeks old at a La Leche League meeting. From the left: us, Jessica and Jack, Kathleen and Chloe, Malia and Brynton, and Melissa and Caiden.

Taken when Julian was about 7 weeks old at our Bradley Pool Party reunion. From the left: Jessica and Hartley, us, Melissa and Caiden, Kathleen and Chloe, and Jessica and Jack.


Little Beginnings babies

On sunday we went to our friend, Theresa's, house for a Little Beginnings baby reunion. I taught at Little Beginnings Child Development Center from August 2006 to July 2007. Apparently there was something in the water there because when I left the school, Emily just had her son, Oliver, and Theresa was pregnant (due end of March), Cherylen was pregnant (due end of April), and shortly after I left the school we got pregnant (due end of May). Soon after that, Mandy got pregnant (due beginning of July). *phew* That's a lot of babies out of a staff of about 19 people! This was the first time since all our babies were born for us to get together. It was really lovely to see everyone! We look forward to more playdates as they kids get bigger.

Taken when Julian was about 10 weeks old. From the left: Mandy and Hannah, us, Cherlyen and Grant, Emily and Oliver, and Theresa and Eliza.

Prenatal Yoga
For one of my Christmas presents Thad got me a prenatal yoga session at a local place, SunMoon Yoga. I started in January and went up until a week before I was due. It was a great class and I met some great ladies in it. Meggan and I did water aerobics twice a week, too, until our due dates. Between yoga and water aerobics they were fantastic ways to help remain active during the pregnancy and to meet other expectant mothers. This week a few ladies brought their new babies over for a meet and greet and it was real nice to see them. We are hoping to get together once a week but you never know with babies involved....

Taken when Julian was 10 1/2 weeks old. From the left: Jen and Abby, Nikki and Camden, and us. Blanca was taking the picture, so we'll have to get her and Alejandro in there next time!

Between the Bradley class, La Leche League, yoga, and everywhere in between that we've been meeting other mommies and babies, we're so fortunate to have this support network. Hopefully this means lots of playdates as the kids get older!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

"Here are a few of my favorite things..."

Before I get into Julian's favorite things these days I'd like to announce that our little boy was able to put himself to sleep TWICE in a row folks. Last night after I nursed him he was nice and calm and we decided to try and see if he'd put himself to sleep (instead of the rocking/swaying/singing/bouncing/swaddling song and dance that tends to happen some nights). Granted, we tried when he was nice and calm, yet tired, and he was just bathed/clean diaper/fed so it truly was the perfect storm. Anyways, he was laid in his bassinet and within 5 minutes he was asleep! For his nap this morning he did the same thing. Oh boy, I hope this is a sign of things to come....

Without further ado, here is a list of Julian's favorite things (minus "the boob" of course...):

1. Sleeping- Well, duh, babies love to sleep. Julian is on the upper end of that "newborns sleep for 14-18 hours a day" thing. I'm fine with that. :)



2. His Bears- The play yard with the bears on top of his changing table is Julian's NUMBER ONE place to be! If he is upset, tired, cranky, or just plain inconsolable, those bears do the trick! They aren't colorful, flashy, nor do they move on their own but they bring him such happiness. He can lay under those bears and gaze at them adoringly long enough for mommy and daddy to get some things done in the kitchen.




3. Being on his tummy- We found out within his first couple weeks that if he is cranky and relatively inconsolable we can put him on his tummy and he is happy! Thank God. We can no longer put him on his Boppy on his tummy because he pushed himself forward and his forehead ends up pushed against the ground. Oh well. He also sleeps MUCH better on his tummy, too.

4. Standing on his feet- The bigger he gets, the stronger he gets, and the stronger he gets the more he wants to stand on our laps or whatever surface is around. Boy he kicks hard...

5. His fist- Since he has discovered his fist, it has becomes his best friend. He watches it, he plays with it, and he works on controlling it. He can get it into his mouth now, especially when he's tired, and this helps him get to sleep! Thank GOD. :)


6. The TV- Now, this is a tricky one because I don't put him in front of the TV and leave him BUT he LOVES watching it! Oh the colors! Movement! Sounds! It's the ultimate baby soother apparently. Here's a picture of him watching the TV from the floor. The baby in the background is Abby, Julian's friend from mommy's prenatal yoga class.










Sunday, August 10, 2008

Pump up the bass, mom

Julian is still hot and cold about the car. Sometimes (rarely) it's Paradise, but most of the time it's obviously the worst place in the world. He cries as if he's listening to Kathy Griffin's stand up show. I've even tried offering him the boob oh-so-illegally while Thad is driving but to no avail. Music seems to be the only thing that seems to help calm him down. Thank God for XM radio because I have over 100 channels to scroll through to see if he will like something. Most of the time classical music does the trick. He loves Schumann, Dvorak, Bach, Mozart, Haydn, and Wagner to name a few. He does not like Beethoven. I've found he likes songs that have a great rhythm like dances or marches. He doesn't like hard rock music (which is so funny because in utero he would noticeably move more when I would play hard rock and roll music- or even heavy metal) nor does he like country or bluegrass. He is tolerant of reggae (thank God) and French singers, and he doesn't mind jazz.

So the other night on our way back from dinner, I'm driving and Thad is in the back seat with the little guy trying so hard to make his stuffed Tigger's dancing seem like the coolest thing since his discovery of the bears at home. Still, he will not stop crying. So we try some music...classical, nope. Reggae, nope. Thad suggested something "bumpin'" and I tried for the House channel. It was off the air so I tried the Trance channel and wouldn't you know, Julian almost instantly falls asleep from the thumping bass. So my first thought was, "woah, my child may follow in my footsteps and be a little raver someday..." but that thought was soon pushed aside as we rounded on home and we rushed inside to give him the boob. Well, duh, he was hungry!

We've learned he is most tolerant of the car after he has slept, been changed, and has a full belly and no gas. I'll be sure to remember all that before I put him in his car seat next time....

I leave you with a picture of Julian being hard core in his nemesis: the car seat.



Friday, August 1, 2008

Houston, we have toes!

This past week Julian has discovered his hands and toes. I noticed this when he was sitting in his chair in the kitchen and he was staring at something. A speck on the floor? No, he can't see quite that far yet. The chair? No, that's not very interesting. Wait. His eyes are following something. Can it be? Yes, he is! He's staring at his hand!! His little fist was moving slowly up and down and he watching it do it (he hasn't figured out that it is attached to his body yet). A couple days later I noticed he was staring at his feet! He hasn't made any attempt to touch them yet (still gotta make sure they aren't a threat, I guess) but he can stare at them forever. He even got his "wiggle-proof socks" off to look at them, at which I relied, "wow, look, Julian knocked off his socks!" Clever, I know. Here's a picture of his studying his fist.

Julian had a very busy week! We went to his first concert (Mr. Knick Knack...he slept through most of it, and when he woke up he was most interested in the fountain than the music, but that's okay), we visited a friend's house and went to a Filipino party.


He turned 2 months this week and each day is a never ending adventure. At his appointment he measured in at 23 1/2 inches long and 13 lbs 13 oz. This means he has grown 2 inches in 2 months exactly and gained 5 lbs! If you are at all interested in where he falls against other babies, he is in the 75% for his height/length and in the 50% for his weight. He's already into the bigger onesies, I find it so hard to believe there are babies much bigger than him at this age! Crazy.

Yes, our baby is already a devoted Red Sox fan and was watching ESPN all day yesterday following the updates on Ramirez's trade to the Dodgers. Julian is not happy about this. Here's a picture of him watching the news with daddy.