Two Months!

Yesterday was the two month mark for my little Noah. Let's see, what's new? We get tons of smiles these days. I absolutely love it! We have lots of fun lying him down and tickling him and making funny faces. He always smiles when I raise my voice, tickle him, and then either kiss or pinch his cheeks or poke his nose. It is adorable! He is starting to get into a routine, kind of. He now sleeps for 4-6 hours at a time overnight, with just one middle of the night feeding, depending on when we put him down. He usually whines and fusses around 8:30-9:00 every night, no matter when he was last fed, so that's quickly becoming his bedtime. Then he'll wake up between 1:00 and 4:00 for a feeding and diaper change. Sometimes he's not even crying, just squawking and kicking. He usually wants a late morning and late afternoon nap. When he's awake during the day he's very alert and playful. It's amazing how much easier things have gotten since he was one month! Although being away from home has been a little difficult, mostly for me I think. I hate being out of my routine, without my chair, and changing table, etc. But he's sleeping well in his pack and play and the crib Brian's mom bought, so it must be bothering him less.

I really hate to admit it, but I had my first major mommy blunder this morning. As I was switching sides during feeding, I dropped Noah. He fell about 2 feet head first onto the carpeted floor. I think my heart literally stopped. He cried immediately and I scooped him up and held him close and kissed his poor little head over and over. He settled down quickly and finished his feeding. I called our clinic back in CO and they had the ER from Children's Hospital call me. They asked me questions and guessed that he was ok, but suggested that we go to an ER. I used to work in a hospital just a few miles from my mom's house, so I felt very comfortable taking him there. The doctor gave him a quick look-over and assessed that he's fine. I feel awful though. What a nightmare. No Mother-of-the-Year nomination this year. :(

We're still enjoying our trip, but I'm also looking forward to getting home. As long as Noah stays as happy as he has been and continues to sleep so well, things will be fine! (With no more drops from Mommy!)

Another family photo in front of East Battle Lake

(Noah is looking very suave)

A big smile for daddy on Father's Day

Snuggling with Grandma Cheri

Two month photo

Hallelujah!

We can never leave Minnesota, because Noah figured out how to sleep through the night! Friday night we put him to bed around 11:00, and he didn't wake me up until 5:30! And he greeted me with a smile. Not crying. Seriously. SEVEN hours between feedings! There is a God after all! I went back to bed around 6:15, and he was still sleeping at 8:45. I woke up because I was ready to, not because a baby was crying. Amazing.

The drive here was not so fun. We had to stop every 2-3 hours to feed and change the little man. I can't express how much I hate feeding him in the car! I feel rushed and uncomfortable, and it's just awkward. And the changing stations we encountered... eesh. The first changing table at the McDonalds in Fort Morgan, CO had GRAFFITI on it. No joke. Nasty. Apparently rural gangsta mommas have to tag their changing tables so rival bitches don't use them? The next place we stopped at didn't even have a table, so we changed him in the front seat. Poor little guy was upside down and slipping down the seat the whole time. He was practically doing a headstand. We ended up stopping in Des Moines, IA at a motel to sleep (took us about 14 hours to get there). Both Noah and Gilbert did an excellent job sleeping. I was so proud. But I am already dreading the trip back. Road tripping with an infant is not easy! Next time we're flying. I've learned my lesson.

We're currently at my parents cabin near Battle Lake, MN. It's so nice to see real lakes, and not a reservoir that everyone calls a "lake." Please Colorado, you're not fooling this Minnesota girl. Oh yeah, we're moving back someday. Mosquitos or no, this is home. And a baby needs his grandparents. :)

Our First Family Trip to East Battle Lake

Two Month Appointment

Vaccinations SUCK! Ugh! I really don't know which of us was more upset today. Noah screamed when he got his shots this morning. Afterwards he seemed pretty okay, and slept for 2.5 hours. Then suddenly he woke screaming. He was absolutely inconsolable. So then I started crying. The infant pain relief drops we bought said to ask a doctor to determine the correct dose. It took for freaking ever for the phone nurse to tell us. Come on lady! My baby is SCREAMING IN PAIN!!! It took a little while for him to calm down, and then he was finally able to eat a little bit. I am not looking forward to round 2. :(

In regards to how much Noah has grown, he's gone from 7lbs 4.5oz (12th %ile) at 2 weeks to 10lbs 4oz (25th %ile) at 8 weeks. He has also grown 2 inches in height, and is now a long and lean 22 inches, which is also at the 25th percentile. I was reminded to give him a vitamin D supplement so Brian and I picked one up after the appointment. We also mentioned that he tends to look to the right more often, so we were instructed to encourage him to look left. Most likely his preference is due to how he was positioned in the womb. Hopefully we can get him to be an ambi-turner and go to the left so we don't raise a little Zoolander (and avoid a flat spot on his little noggin.) He has quite the bald patch on the back right side of his head from rubbing against his mattress. The rest of his hair is starting to grow back though. I'm looking forward to him regaining the adorable hairline he had when he first emerged.

In other news, we're off to Minnesota later this week. The grandparents are going to die when they see how much personality Noah's gotten! We're looking forward to time at my parents' cabin, seeing old friends (one of which who has a baby 5 days younger than Noah), and maybe catching a Twins game in their new outdoor stadium. I can't wait to get home, because I think this drive is going to SUCK!!!!! A 13 hour drive with an 8 week old and a hyper, needy dog? Wish us luck (and patience)! We're going to need a lot of it!

Say Cheese!

Yesterday was a fussy day, today is a smiley day!

Frustrated

The little guy has become quite fussy these last few days. It seems like he wants to eat, but once he gets started he seems to lose interest. I'm starting to wonder if he actually is hungry or just fussy. How the hell are you supposed to figure that out? Sigh.

In other news, we finally graduated him to size 1 diapers. He probably could've been wearing them longer, but they just seemed so huge in comparison. The newborn size was definitely starting to squeeze his increasingly chubby thighs though. He also is officially too big (or should I say too long) for a few of his newborn outfits. We'll find out just how big he's gotten on Tuesday when we go for his 2 month check-up.

Well, he's screaming again, so if he won't nap, I guess I'll try to feed him. Hopefully he'll stay awake and interested longer than 5 minutes per side. Grr.

Best Night Yet!

Last night I fed Noah at 9:10 pm, 2:20 am, and 7:10 am. Thank you little man!! Four solid hours of sleep felt great. And getting him back to sleep is getting easier. He fusses for a little while, and makes little squawks and grunts, but eventually he falls back to sleep. I can't remember the last time he stayed awake screaming. It seems like he's making up for the longer stretches at night by wanting to feed more during the day. That's a trade-off I will gladly take!

We went for an ultrasound Monday to check on his kidneys. The doctor called yesterday with the results, and said that his right kidney is totally fine. There is some minor swelling in the left kidney which is within normal limits, however he will go for another ultrasound at 6 months to make sure it continues to get smaller rather than larger.

Six is a Magic Number!

Six has always been my lucky number. Boy is it ever! Ever since Noah hit the six week mark on Wednesday we have seen a dramatic improvement in his sleep. He's getting up 3-5 hours between feedings, allowing me to get close to 4 hours of sleep sometimes. It's glorious! His naps are getting nice and long, too.

We've been out of the house quite a bit with him this week, and I finally found the courage and arm strength to feed him in public (twice!) without my comfy chair and Boppy. I thought my arm was going to fall off afterwards, but we did it! It's nice to know we can leave the house for more than 2 hours at a time. I can definitely say things are starting to get better! I wuv my wittle Noah!

Six Weeks

Hard to believe it's been 6 weeks already! Things around here have drastically improved for me because Brian's school district wrapped up for the school year yesterday. I now have his help 24/7 until mid-August! Thank God!!!

Not a lot is new with Noah. He smiles a bit more now, but he still tends to be stingy with giving them out. Yesterday we were at Brian's staff picnic and the principal's wife was holding him. When he saw me and Brian standing in front of him, we got a big grin. So cute! He was actually really content and enjoyable for the entire 90 minutes we were there. It was fun! I was surprised he did so well because he's had laryngitis all week and was a bit cranky all day Tuesday. Memorial Day was another fun day. We spent the afternoon in Golden, which is a super cute town on the west side of Denver. We ate at our favorite pizza place and walked along the creek that flows through the town. After that we went to a local mall to walk around. I bottle fed Noah while we were there (I'm still not comfortable feeding him from the breast away from home). Brian commented on how it was our first successful feeding away from home, and about 5 seconds later, Noah puked it up all over himself and his car seat. We had to head back to the nursing room and clean him all up. It was kind of funny. He looked super adorable and content afterwards. Here's a picture (it's my new favorite photo of him).

He also continues to love his mobile. There are 4 animals on it: a squirrel, a fox, a raccoon, and an owl. He loves his owl the most. I love watching him follow the animals with his eyes.

Sleeping is still not the greatest. It's hard to get him to nap during the day. If he isn't sleeping on me, he won't stay asleep in his crib for more than 30-45 minutes. At night he goes anywhere from 2-4.5 hours between feedings (from start to start). Last night was our best yet. I fed him at 9:35 pm, 2:00 am, and 6:15 am. And now that Brian doesn't have to work, I have him get up to put Noah back to sleep after he's done eating. It gives me close to an extra 30 minutes of sleep. It's amazing what 30 minutes can do. Speaking of, the little guy is asleep right now, so I should wrap this up!

On a final note, I had my 6 week follow up (and final... for now) OB appointment today. Everything went fine, although the nurse thought my thyroid might be enlarged. I had to have a blood draw and will follow up with my primary care provider. I hope it's nothing!