Julian rolled over today in front of my very eyes! Woo!!!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
"Please, sir, can I have some more?"
We noticed that over the past 10 days or so Julian's interest in our food has gone from passive to almost desperate. He looks longingly at my yogurt, hopefully at my scrambled eggs, and hungrily at my soup, so we figured it may be time to at least try some solid foods. I know I am supposed to wait until he's 4 months old and can sit up by himself to introduce solid foods but he was already 16 weeks and he does enjoy the tasting things so, heck, why not?
This saturday we mixed some rice cereal with some breast milk and used our fingers as spoons to introduce this new substance to our liquid-diet son. At first he looked at us like we were crazy. "What is this mess you want me to do? You want to put that in my mouth? Well then...I guess I'll try it." At first he made a funny face but after a couple more tastes he was ALL about the rice cereal! He was even opening his mouth for us when we'd put our finger up to his mouth wit some gruel on it. After a few bites (enough to amount up to 1/2 a tablespoon) we stopped there and cleaned him up. Since then he has shown a lot of enthusiasm for our food and hopefully we can give him a bit each day until he is showing a strong ability to swallow the food safely, and then we'll up the amount. I am thinking of trying some sweet potatoes tonight....
This saturday we mixed some rice cereal with some breast milk and used our fingers as spoons to introduce this new substance to our liquid-diet son. At first he looked at us like we were crazy. "What is this mess you want me to do? You want to put that in my mouth? Well then...I guess I'll try it." At first he made a funny face but after a couple more tastes he was ALL about the rice cereal! He was even opening his mouth for us when we'd put our finger up to his mouth wit some gruel on it. After a few bites (enough to amount up to 1/2 a tablespoon) we stopped there and cleaned him up. Since then he has shown a lot of enthusiasm for our food and hopefully we can give him a bit each day until he is showing a strong ability to swallow the food safely, and then we'll up the amount. I am thinking of trying some sweet potatoes tonight....
What did I miss?!
Last night, when Julian woke up for his middle of the night meal, I went over to get him out of his pack 'n play (no, he is not in a crib yet and yes, he outgrew the bassinet) and he was *gulp* on his back! We have been putting him on his belly to sleep at night since he was about 2 weeks old (yes, I know this goes against all the 'advice' out there today but he's obviously fine and since he picked his head up the day he was born I figured he would be fine) and I was quite shocked to find him on his back last night. I even woke up Thad to see if he had put him down on his back when he put him to bed but nope, he was on his belly.
So I guess this is a sign of things to come? Oh boy....
So I guess this is a sign of things to come? Oh boy....
Monday, September 15, 2008
First Road Trip: Virginia Beach
Last saturday ago my mom, Terri, and I took Julian down to VA Beach for the weekend. Daddy stayed home with the animals and took care of a massive "honey do" list for mommy (thanks, daddy!!). It was a good trip. We strapped the seat into my mom's SUV which is so much more luxurious than my Subaru. The way down wasn't as catastrophic as I was expecting it to be as we only had to stop a couple times extra for Julian-related issues, and I only had to hang my boob over his car seat once. We drove straight to the Marriott on Atlantic Ave. and Terri stayed with Julian while my mom and I went to my cousin's bridal shower. Here's a Gap baby shot of little JD on the bed. I may be biased but he just may be the cutest baby ever. :)
I thought briefly about taking Julian with us to the shower but then I realized that a bunch of Filipino women in a house would be incredibly loud for him and I just didn't want to make him deaf so young in life so Terri was kind enough to come down with us and hang out with him while we stepped into the Virginia-based outpost of the Philippines for a couple of hours. We stayed long enough to see my cousin bask in her bridal bliss and open a few presents before my boobs reminded me that I had a baby who was ready for a meal.
For dinner on saturday night my aunt (mom's sister), my uncle, 2 cousins + 1 partner, another aunt (mom's best friend) and her two daughters all joined us for a fantastic seafood dinner.
Julian was such a trooper without daddy, through the long car rides, unfamiliar places, and new people. We even stopped in at the beach sunday morning before we left for home so Julian could at least see the ocean. (Side note: A few weeks back I bought an 'ocean sounds' cd for bed time thinking that the rhythm of the waves crashing would be a bit nicer for white noise rather than just the room fan. I was wrong. Every time the waves would crash he would startle. Maybe I can revive the cd when he's a bit older and has had a chance to associate it with the ocean, because I could fall asleep to that sound in about 2 minutes flat).
Here are some pics of his reaction to the ocean. He LOVED it!
I thought briefly about taking Julian with us to the shower but then I realized that a bunch of Filipino women in a house would be incredibly loud for him and I just didn't want to make him deaf so young in life so Terri was kind enough to come down with us and hang out with him while we stepped into the Virginia-based outpost of the Philippines for a couple of hours. We stayed long enough to see my cousin bask in her bridal bliss and open a few presents before my boobs reminded me that I had a baby who was ready for a meal.
For dinner on saturday night my aunt (mom's sister), my uncle, 2 cousins + 1 partner, another aunt (mom's best friend) and her two daughters all joined us for a fantastic seafood dinner.
Julian was such a trooper without daddy, through the long car rides, unfamiliar places, and new people. We even stopped in at the beach sunday morning before we left for home so Julian could at least see the ocean. (Side note: A few weeks back I bought an 'ocean sounds' cd for bed time thinking that the rhythm of the waves crashing would be a bit nicer for white noise rather than just the room fan. I was wrong. Every time the waves would crash he would startle. Maybe I can revive the cd when he's a bit older and has had a chance to associate it with the ocean, because I could fall asleep to that sound in about 2 minutes flat).
Here are some pics of his reaction to the ocean. He LOVED it!
Julian's First Picnic
Last thursday we went to Founders Park in Old Town Alexandria for Julian's first picnic. We went with Kathleen and Chloe, Jessica and Hartley, Mary Beth and Claire, Blanca and Alejandro, and Trigie and Vaughan. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and we had a great time! Julian really enjoyed hanging out outside. I hope this is a sign of things to come for an outdoor baby!
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:
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
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
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