Saturday, February 27, 2010

Over the river and through the woods

We are getting our passports so we can go to Canada. My grandpa is turning 95 so we are going to drive up there with my dad in April to see him for his birthday. I wanted Seth's great grandpa to have a chance to meet him at least once, and he doesn't travel anymore so this is probably a good opportunity. There was a sign in the passport office saying that babies don't actually need a passport if they are traveling by land. But I already had all the paperwork done and the pictures so I figured we might as well just get it. There's always a chance we'd want to fly somewhere with him in the next 5 years and then we'll be all set.

Seth has been such a good boy with his naps and bedtimes the last couple of days. It is so encouraging, I am hoping we have really turned a corner! He starts batting his fists at his eyes when he gets tired, so if we're lucky he starts to fall asleep wherever he happens to be at the time. This happens pretty consistently around 10am so far, assuming we get up for the day somewhere around 7 or 8. Then I can pick him up and swaddle him and put him in his crib and he will stay up there content for about an hour, not necessarily fast asleep the whole time but not fussing or crying either. The trick is the timing because I think he would have a longer morning nap if he didn't wake up hungry. But he's usually not hungry before the nap so I can't really get him to eat even if I try. Hmmm. Afternoon naps are still pretty random, especially when we're out running errands. Eventually I'll have to schedule my errands around his naps I guess but for now I'm appreciating his portability. He tends to get cranky if he's in the car seat for too long but usually settles down if he has his binky. Depending on where it lands when he spits it out I can even sometimes reach back and poke it in his mouth at stop lights.

It's finally Saturday, I'm so excited! I LOVE the weekends when Eric is home. So fun! It's amazingly wonderful to have someone to split the diaper changes with. Plus I just so enjoy his company. Adults are fun to talk to :) Not that I don't enjoy my one sided conversations with Seth - "Do you want to wear a diaper with Elmo on it or Cookie Monster? Cookie Monster? Good choice!" Anyway, the sun is out for the moment so I think when Seth wakes up from his morning nap we're going to take him up to Grandma and Grandpa Haynes' house and maybe go for a walk in the park.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Adventures

It's been a busy couple of days. As a new mom I always feel good about my little "accomplishments" throughout the week. It feels good to look back and realize I didn't just sit on the couch all week and watch the Food Network. Yesterday we went a'visiting to a friend's house for lunch. Seth was pretty well behaved, although he refused to nap for longer than 5 minutes and managed to dirty 3 diapers one right after another. After that we went to Wal*Mart, yuck. But I was dangerously low on diapers and I wasn't sure if my latest shipment would arrive in time. Running out of diapers is not an option. THEN, we went to Spokane vital records to pick up a couple certified copies of Seth's birth certificate. He was getting hungry so I fed him in the backseat of the car before we went in. Thank goodness for tinted windows. That went pretty well. Finally we went to Costco to get our mug shots for the passport application. The whole process was hilarious. At first the girl asked me to hold Seth over my head. What?? He was a little sleepy at that point and still doesn't quite hold his head up, at least not very steady. So that wasn't working at all. Finally we laid him down on the counter and the girl stood up on a chair to take the picture and they turned out great. She said it was her best baby picture ever! I think mine isn't too bad either.


We made it back home safe and sound and Seth STILL had not had a good nap ALL DAY. Bad news. I started trying to get him down for bed around 6:30pm or so. He Finally Fell Asleep around 11:15. Ugh. That was not fun. A real test of patience. Lesson of the day: SLEEP BEGETS SLEEP.

This morning I took Seth in with me for my 6 week postpartum visit. That was fairly uneventful, as there is no shortage of women in the office who are willing to hold a baby while mom is getting her exam. I'm all healed up and opted for the progestin only mini pill for birth control. I may or may not decide to take it but I figured it would be good to have around just in case. I told Dr. H initially that we were just going with abstinence and he laughed. I suppose eventually I'll feel like doing that again :)

After the doctor I went back home to get Eric so we could go to the passport office and get our applications submitted. Thanks to me doing our homework we were in and out of there pretty quickly. I had to laugh at the woman in front of us who had clearly not done her homework because she was there wanting to get a passport for her daughter, sans birth certificate and father of the child. Duh.

We spent the next hour or so driving around because that seemed a surefire way to make sure Seth had at least one decent nap today. He woke up a couple of times protesting because I think the sun was in his eyes, but for the most part it was a success. Since we've been back he's had another good nap and he looks to me like he is ready for bed now. So I'm going to take advantage of that drowsy look and see if I can get him down for the night.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Seth 6 weeks old

Dear Seth,

Today I have been your mama for 6 weeks! I can't believe how time flies. You are forever keeping me guessing - mainly guessing "how long is he going to sleep this time??" It would be so great to know if it is going to be 20 minutes, like this morning, or 2 1/2 hours like yesterday afternoon. Then I would know if I should even bother trying to take a nap. It seems like if I try to take a nap it pretty much guarantees you won't sleep even an hour so maybe it's better if I just learn to function on less sleep. We actually are getting on a little more of a schedule these days. I can pretty much count on getting you to bed for good by 10pm, and then daddy gives you a bottle when he gets home from work, usually by 1am. Then you're usually ready for another nibble around 4-5am. Unfortunately after that I don't usually get to go back to sleep. Here's the thing - you don't poop much at night anymore. This is nice because diaper changes are fewer and faster. However, the other unfortunate side effect is that it seems to make you very uncomfortable because around 6am or so you start grunting and moaning and groaning and whimpering so loudly that one of us (usually me) has to wake you up and comfort you until you POOP. Once you get that done you are SO much happier. This morning I got up with you at 7am and had a staring contest with you in the bouncer until you finally pooped at 9:30am. Then you promptly passed out after I got you into a clean diaper. I'm so excited to read this letter to your girlfriend someday.

Yesterday you got a bath. You seem to like your baths, you have not cried once and you lay there very still and calm looking around. You don't get baths more than a couple times a week right now. I compromise by changing your clothes a lot and spot cleaning. It's fun to play dress up with you, trying out all your new outfits. Your drawers are full of 3-6 month clothes now and they all fit just fine. I have decided that hoods on baby clothes for the most part are a serious design flaw. We weighed you yesterday on the scale here at home and you were 12.6 lbs. Holy Moly. I measured you too and you were about 22.5 inches. The reason I measured you is because I am applying for your passport. Can you believe you need a passport of your own at this age? And that it costs $85?! Rules are rules I guess, and you'll need that passport so I can take you up to the Great White North to see your great-grandpa, who is turning 95 in April. That will be an interesting trip. You and me and grandpa in the car for 10 hours, whoopiee! I'm hoping you will sleep most of the way. Soon after we get home from Canada I will have to go back to work :( Boo! But I am sure you will have fun times with daddy in the mornings.

You are SO CLOSE to smiling! I know it is going to be any day now. In fact, yesterday you were really practicing while mommy and daddy both stared at you and cheered you on. Your mouth made a definite smile shape - but the expression on your face was like "am I doing it right?" So cute! Maybe today will be the day. If not, I look forward to any other surprises you decide to pull on me.

Love, Mama

Friday, February 19, 2010

Rookie mistake

Lesson of the day: always keep a spare binky in the diaper bag for when you accidentally drop one in the parking lot of Fred Meyer. Luckily we were on our way out, not in, and it's only a 5 minute car ride home. Before Fred Meyer we also went to the car wash. As soon as we pulled in I thought "oh no, this might have been a terrible idea." But it didn't bother him at all. I suppose it might have been scary if he had been awake but he slept through the whole thing.

Seth is growing SO fast, I cannot believe it. We're definitely out of the newborn clothes and newborn diapers. Some of the 0-3 month clothes still fit him, but I'm breaking into the 3-6 month box now as well. So excited about that because the Cougar onesies we have are that size, yay!

I've continued with the swaddling at night because it's definitely helping. I had to break out the Swaddle-Me blankets though because he just kicks and squirms his way out of everything else. The other night Eric had gotten up to change his diaper and when he brought him back to me he goes "I think he's a little chilly" - poor thing, his little hands were ICE cold (I noticed this when he was punching me in the boob trying to latch on). I felt so bad! So now I can velcro him in and it's working great. He stays warm AND he doesn't wake himself up when his arms go flailing everywhere. This afternoon I was having such a hard time getting him down for a nap - he kept falling asleep and then waking up 10 minutes later. So after about 3 or 4 cycles of that I strapped on his little straitjacket and he has now been sleeping for over an hour and a half (minus a brief interruption in which it looked like he had a bad dream or something because he jerked awake suddenly and cried for a few minutes before going back to sleep). Coincidence maybe, but Phew!

Seth has been practicing his vowel sounds. So far he knows "oooh", "iiiih", and "aaah." He's also lost most of the hair from the top of his head, so he has a little skullet. It looks so funny from the side. I think he looks a little like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons. He's a big fan of things with contrasting colors - he loves to stare up at the stripes on the wall while he's being changed, and his favorite animal appears to be the zebra.

A little off topic, but there is a neighbor cat that keeps coming up and sitting on our deck by the slider. Buttercup paces around the kitchen yowling and trying to attack it through the glass. It's pretty funny.

Also, the let down reflex is like the weirdest thing ever. I'm just sayin'...

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Seth 5 weeks old

Dear Seth,

Today you are 5 weeks old. You were so fussy all day yesterday and refused to sleep longer than 15 minutes at a time. Now you are finally passed out after a 3:45am breakfast and Mommy cannot get back to sleep. Every day is a new adventure with you in our lives. It's amazing how fast you are growing up. The other day I weighed myself, and then weighed myself holding you. 11 lbs difference! You have increased your birth weight almost 40% already. My little piggy! You'll be wearing 3-6 month sized clothes any day now. You have started loving the play mat we got for you the other day. You lay there waving your arms and kicking your feet looking back and forth, back and forth, taking it all in, it is so darn cute! Quite often you stop on the mirror and stare for awhile, probably thinking to yourself "who IS that handsome devil??" I'm still waiting to see a real smile on your face. Every day you're getting so much closer. I know I've seen your mouth make a smile-like shape, but I won't be convinced that it's real until your whole face lights up. For now though I still get a huge kick out of your big eyes staring up at me while you eat, or while I sing to you and make funny faces. My goal in the coming weeks is to get better about enforcing your tummy time, as much as you hate it. You can already hold your head up pretty well when you're sitting up in the Moby, or laying on my chest. But I need you to exercise those arms and legs too, and when you get really mad you scoot all over the place! I better try to go back to sleep now, I'm sure you'll keep me busy later today so I need to rest up. Love you buddy!

Love, Mama

Friday, February 12, 2010

Can't...organize...thoughts

I might have to move Seth to his crib soon because he is so noisy at night when he's sleeping, that none of us get any sleep except for him. I suppose I will still hear all his moans and groans on the monitor but at least I can control the volume. It's so confusing because all the books say that crying is a *late* hunger cue, but if I jumped out of bed to feed him every time he made a peep then he'd be eating all night. Anyway, going to the crib is kind of a bummer because we've just figured out the side lying position and while it doesn't keep me from waking up all the way, it does seem to be easier for him.

The last couple of days he has been fussing a lot when he eats. He thrashes all around and pulls off, taking my nipple with him. Ouch. I think this is partly due to a pretty forceful let down, as usually he is coughing and sputtering, but not always. Yesterday I thought it might be because I hadn't showered in awhile... but I guess that wasn't it ;) Again, sometimes when I can't get him to eat well, the side lying position gets him going again.

He finally likes the swing. He's in it right now. He had a wide awake fussy day and then finally fell asleep around 4pm and slept until a little after 7pm. He ate a good meal with minimal thrashing and then sat in the bouncer watching me fold laundry. I carried him around for awhile putting clothes away and then I noticed his eyes were drooping so I tried putting him in the swing and it worked. This is the first day he hasn't cried when I put him down in it.

It's amazing how I've come full circle emotionally. I want to make sure I remember for next time that the crazies DO GO AWAY. Those first few weeks were so ridiculous... I remember one day sitting on the edge of the bed in my room, crying and thinking to myself "what was I thinking? I don't even like kids!!" Don't get me wrong, I still have moments when I cry in frustration because I can't figure out why he's crying. But for the most part I LIVE to make sure he is happy and knows how much I love him.

Seth doesn't really like to be swaddled. He gets really frustrated when he can't move his arms. However, last night I tried wrapping his arms a little tighter after I was sure he was asleep. That seemed to help a little bit with the fussing. He does tend to startle himself quite a bit and his arms fly out.

He is pretty well grown out of the newborn clothes we have. Some of the 0-3 month stuff doesn't fit either. My question is - what's the difference? The 0-3 month stuff seems to be a little bigger but it could be my imagination. At any rate, the sleepers with feet are definitely getting a little short and I wonder if he gets frustrated that he can't straighten his legs all the way? Most days he spends in a onesie. Sometimes I'll put socks on him if it feels like his feet are cold.

I just realized the Olympic opening ceremonies have started. I'm liking the "We are the World" montage.

I went to Babies R Us yesterday and used my 10% off registry completion coupon. I got one of those play mats and so far I think it is a little much for him. He does like the mirror though.

I do not like the Kirkland wipes we got. My favorite so far are the Pampers sensitive. Seth has been getting a teeny bit of diaper rash off and on but all we have to do is air him out for a few minutes and put on the Butt Paste and we're good to go. This is dangerous though because that leaves us vulnerable to the sprinkler. Oh my goodness, speaking of the sprinkler, this morning he projectile pooped while I was changing him. He's pooped mid-diaper change before but this one caught air, right onto my hand. Gross. And THEN a little later after he ate he had his first blow out right into my lap. Getting peed on is not a big deal. I am not a big fan of getting pooped on though. Gross.

Well, he is not happy in the swing anymore, gotta go.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Seth 4 weeks old


Well I feel like super mom today. I managed to go to Costco, the liquor store, and Fred Meyer - all with a sleeping baby in tow. My shopping list was pretty long, too, I was impressed he slept through the whole thing. Even more impressive was getting my Beef Bourguignon successfully finished - in between diaper changes and feedings - by the time Eric came home for lunch at 7pm! Woot! Now if he would just GO TO SLEEP! I guess he is waiting for daddy to come home and give him his bottle.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

I can do this... I think!

Well so far, so good. It has been great having my mom here this week. The house is going to be sparkly clean by the time she leaves, so that will be nice. Hopefully I'll be able to maintain that going forward on my own. Seth and I have now had two pretty successful days breastfeeding without the nipple shield, yay! One less thing to worry about in the middle of the night when he's hungry. He seems to eat a lot better/faster without it too. A couple of times he's had to stop and choke and sputter a little. He got a little taste of his own medicine ... yesterday right after he started eating he pulled away for a second and got a little whitewash right in the face :) Hehe. The downside of not having the nipple shield is that now my nipples are getting a little sore.

Our schedule is still pretty unpredictable - I never know if he's going to sleep, or how long he's going to sleep for. I know for sure he sleeps better overall the more he sleeps, so I've been trying to discourage him from staying awake longer than a couple of hours at a time. I got my Moby wrap on Monday, so that has been fun too. So far we've only figured out the "hug" hold, and a modified version of the cradle hold, which is working fine - he's currently zonked out in it with his mouth hanging open, moaning and grunting in his sleep (what IS IT with that? sometimes he'll do it for an hour!). It is nice to have my hands free to put laundry away or peel carrots (the two things I managed to get done yesterday). The only problem is usually he wakes up madder than a hornet for some reason and then I cannot get him out fast enough.

Anyway, so far, so good. It will be interesting next week when I'm really on my own and can't go to bed early and leave him with my mom.