2 months today! Official doctor 2 month stats on Tuesday. I think it's safe to say he's grown! Just for fun, I recreated a photo shoot from a few weeks ago.
Looks like that onesie is a little more tight and those shorts fit a little differently!
Here's some Obi things I want to remember..... First haircut at almost 8 weeks! Just a trim of the mullet and sideburns. He is liking bath time a little more. He can "work out" in his baby gym happily for at least 10 mins. He likes his MAM pacifier. He will take a lot of mini vacations this summer, with his first one a few days ago to Kansas City!
Two months have flown by and gone slow all at the same time.I feel like I've got this kid mostly figured out :) I know that most of his dirty diapers happen in the morning. He's got about 90 minutes (give or take 15) of happy awake time before he becomes cranky and needs to take a snooze. Though sometimes it seems he just cries and fusses because he wants to! Stepping outside will generally help that. We haven't done as many walks lately because it's been so hot. And he gets sweaty fast. Napping has gotten better-- and maybe I've gotten a little more relaxed about it. I'll often encourage his afternoon nap by napping with him :) Nighttime sleeping is going well, getting several hr stretches and I usually get up just once to feed him. He's got a pretty consistent morning wake time between 7-7:30am. We've got a good little routine going and I feel like I'm at least starting to fit into a "mommy groove" of daily life.
I realized I can't slack on keeping this blog Obi-updated because babies grow super fast!!!
Here's some today and yesterday pictures to commemorate him at 6 weeks!
I caught a spit bubble during tummy time. Look at those blue eyes with the camera flash!!
We haven't been really regular with our tummy times. He's had a freakishly strong neck since day 1, so we're not concerned about that. He lays on our tummys and looks up at us a lot- so that's some modified tummy time. This next picture tells us he's clearly done with tummy time!
He likes his little play gym... for about 10 minutes tops. I may have helped him grab that toy-- but it got his attention!
And this video shows a glimpse at how much he moves!! We may have an active toddler in a couple years...
Obi is cracking some grins the past couple days- but we have to work for it! I notice him smile in his sleep more :)
After some nap struggles (which still occur) I've been studying my baby and basically forcing him to nap. I notice at about an hour of being awake is when to start the soothing process before the cranky baby shows up. Wrap him tight, plug in the pacifier, and hold him upright so his head can rest on your shoulder. Some bouncing and shushing may need to happen. But I can expect him to drift off to sleep within 10 minutes at the most.
Still working on forcing him to nap longer than 30-45 min stretches. About every other day he does that. Today, I put him on our bed to nap and he literally woke up at minute 46. I laid down with him and held his hands (ie: pinned down his crazy moving arms) while he dozed off again. Doing that when he woke up got me a 2 1/2 hour nap! I baked cookies :)
Obi is a wide-eyed little boy when he's awake and I think that might be half the struggle to get him to settle down for a nap. I have never seen him lay on the floor and drift off to sleep. I've seen him drift off to sleep with the motion of a sling/Bjorn or for a walk or car ride! Otherwise there's too much for his little eyes to see!
He is a houdini at getting out of any swaddle I create. Did you see those limbs flail in the video!? Swaddling in his straight-jacket outfit- especially at night-- is a must. I was working on getting naps in his crib-- but then decided sleeping in general trumps where he sleeps at this point. He's slept in his crib at night since day 1 so he generally knows pretty well when it's the "long nap" time. Typically, he'll get up once in the middle of the night-- and then once in the early morning, like 5am. I'm experimenting with what time to put him down and when he wakes up. Trying to move that 5 am to maybe 7 am :) Last night he woke at 3:30 and then 7:30, and that was great! Reading and willing to drop that middle of the night feeding any day now though....
He's getting better at self-soothing and being put down while drowsy. Though if his eyes open and something catches his attention- it's hard for him to shut back down. Loud white noise works well at that point. I quick get out the vacuum or run the attic fan sometimes to help him remember he's tired!
He likes baths until you get to washing his hair and then he's anxious to get out. And of course, getting out gets him anxious to be warm! But having all that hair takes a while to dry and get warm! Blessing and a curse- that hair. Speaking of hair-- he's got blonde roots. Reverse "frosted tips" is the look this hipster baby is going for.
We love our little Obster and I'm excited to see him grow! Really, this blog is becoming a place for me to record and remember things about daily life. But it also happens to keep you updated :)
There's been a lot of growing going on in this household. Growing grass to be mowed. Growing my identity as a mom. Growing into this new thing called "our family." And, of course, a rapidly growing baby boy.
Did anyone ever tell me life with a newborn is hard? I know they have-- but it's one of those things that you don't get until you're in it. I've spent more than a few days in the past 4 weeks watching the clock simply waiting for the next feeding, predicting how long Obi will sleep, and hoping he'll sleep well at night. Only to wake up and do it all over again. I can cry almost on cue thanks to those post-pregnancy hormones. I worked hard to get out of the house with him, if even for just a walk around the block. I needed that more than he did. I was simply enduring each day. "Enduring" in the best possible connotation. I am enjoying my days and enjoying my son.... but also partly getting through each day!
And then after the weekends, I look back and can't really remember what last week was like. Or in the evenings I don't really remember how tired I was getting up the previous night to feed him. After a few hours of peace, I forget what his cry sounds like!
I think I can actually say that days are moving fast!! We have a 4 week old. Whoa! We're watching him pack on the pounds-- or rather the ounces. And we're also watching his eyes turn a steely gray blue and his hair turn blonde!! Those blonde hair roots just happened recently.
Here's his appointment stats at just 18 days old for my sake of recording...
8lbs 13 oz, 75th percentile in weight
22 inches long, 90th percentile in length
14 1/4 cm, 40th percentile in head circumference
By now, he's at least 9 lbs and a few ounces. (which is actually how much I weighed at 1 day old!!)
So he's growing!!- at least an ounce a day since leaving the hospital- so something is working there! We've noticed more awake time and alertness from him lately. He can be awake and content fairly easily! But watch out when he's hungry or tired. He needs his mama or needs to be swaddled and tucked under your chin to fall asleep. His daytime napping is sporadic-- sometimes a good couple hour stretches, other times its random 30-45 mins. His nighttime sleeping is going well (gotten 6hr stretches the past several nights!!)... and hopefully will continue!
And finally, the pictures:
Where we took a nap today
Fist pumping... "Whoo--hoo..... I survived 4 weeks!"
I think baby clothes are hilarious. Nothing quite looks like it fits right :)
And this was a tummy time session with daddy at 3 weeks. His neck has always been freakishly strong for a newborn-- he's a little sleepy during this practice though :)
Mother's day 2011.... I hopped on a plan with 11 other people and flew to China.
Mother's day 2012.... I fed my son, changed his diaper, kissed his face, snuggled him to sleep, and dedicated him with our church family to raise him to know and follow God.
More than a few times this past week, I've been amazed thinking about how each person I've ever seen was born. Someone was pregnant with them and someone gave birth to them. The universality of birth and newborn care has brought me some comfort this week. I am not the only person to have ever done this!
It hasn't been bad, at all really. I'm just dealing with lots of extra hormones and lots of time at home with little "real" accomplishments (like laundry, food, cleaning, etc). It is a constant cycle of feeding, burping, changing, sleeping, waking, feeding, burping.... etc. I'm looking forward to the days of a schedule and routine so I can have some predictability in my life. Yet I always here people say how it goes so fast and cuddle with your newborn while you can. So I'm trying to do that. Already, we have a one week old. Only 3 more of what I just did and we will have a one month old!
I've been able to sneak a shower in nearly every day thanks to naps in his bouncy seat in the bathroom. Today was my first shower before noon! Since dad's been back at work this week, I've found that it helps to have something to break up my day. We've taken walks a few evenings as a family and we walked Obi to a BBQ at a friend's house last night. Getting out helps and I'm SO thankful for the nice weather.
Today I might be brave and actually take him somewhere in the car. I'm thinking I'll get a 1/2 price Starbuck's frappacino. I might end up driving further just to go through the drive through Starbucks-- but that's OK. I'm looking forward to it! Tomorrow I'd like to go to a breastfeeding group at the hospital and have him weighed before and after eating just to see that something is working. I don't know when it's "OK" or acceptable to bring a baby out in the world-- but I think it'll be helpful to me so we're going to do it. Ben and I are trying to keep in mind that this baby has joined our lives (and yes, drastically changed it...) but we can still do normal things.
But really, he's gotten good 2 or 3+ hour stretches of sleep at night before waking... and I wake up more than him! I've woken up several times thinking he's in my arms or in our bed and get slightly scared when I can't find him. I have to get up to see him in his crib (which is only 5 steps from my bedside) just to assure myself that he's there. I've read a few places that that can be common the first few weeks.
The comments about his hair are never ending! I love it. Here's what we did after his first at home hair washing.
And it was such a blessing to have my aunt and a couple cousins to come Sunday and take some precious newborn pictures.
This is a favorite and pretty much sums up my life lately... holding a precious little baby while he tries to eat me :)
Getting well taken care of at this hospital here and will go home tomorrow afternoon! Obadiah means "servant of the Lord" and we'll call him Obi for short. Nurses love his hair! Besides cute, perfect, and adorable-- he's been called "Elvis" because of his sideburns... and "Barracuda" because of how he's breastfeeding :) Loving my baby and looking forward to the days ahead learning how to be a mommy :)
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