Happy 2 Month Birthday BB!!

Happy 2 Month Birthday BB!

If you think he looks bigger in this photo, that's because he is! Today at the doctor BB weighed 11 lbs 14 oz, and is 24 1/4 inches long! BB's head and weight measured around the 50th percentile, and his length was above the 90th percentile!! He's very tall for his age!

BB took his vaccinations like a champ today - some crying with the pokes, but he calmed easily and went right to sleep, and so far the rest of the day has been full of normal eating, playing, and cooing, no extra-fussiness included! Here are his battlewounds:


I can't believe 2 entire months have passed since he was born. In those 2 months BB has changed in so many ways! He now smiles back at us often (including when we peek over his crib after a nap) and is also smiling at the sun toy on his activity mat, which is adorable! He's batting at his toys when he sits in his bouncy seat and likes lying on his back on the couch or activity mat (which he hated until the last few weeks). We get to have many conversations as BB now coos back at us when we talk to him. According to Daddy, he is also good at keeping secrets (J told BB what mommy's birthday present is, and BB hasn't spilled the beans yet). He has grown even more inquisitive, staring and staring at the new world around him as his vision develops - when we walk from room to room he looks around at that, and that, and that! He is holding his head very steady when he's awake (but when he gets sleepy he does a lot of head-butting mommy which smarts both of us a bit). Yesterday he even rolled from his tummy to his back on his activity mat (but refused to duplicate it for video or daddy) (His first roll over actually happened on July 2nd when he rolled from his tummy to his back in his crib twice in a row, but he hadn't done it since then)!! Happy Birthday BB!! Thank you for the happiest 2 months of my life!!

Visitors & a daddy photo

BB had a visit from some dear friends this week, Team K! Team K came all the way from the Windy City to meet BB. Team K has one little girl already and is expecting Baby #2 in August - we are sure that these little ones will be the best of pals one day since they will be just a few months apart. We had a wonderful day, visiting and eating at Tucson culinary highlights Bisonwitches and Rosa's.



And this is just a cute photo:


(taken 2 weeks ago, July 17th)

Barking squirrel

About half of my daily thoughts are about my milk – Is BB getting enough milk? Am I making enough milk? How come I pumped twice as much milk last time? How is what I’m eating going to affect my milk? Do I have enough milk stored up for when I have to go back to work? Will I make enough milk then? What if my milk disappears!? Milk milk milk milk milk. Maybe I should blog about my milk.

Now that you have a small window into my obsession with my milk, you will understand my surprise when I found out that BB is not using my milk in the conventional manner. Meaning most babies drink their milk and then swallow it down, allowing themself to be nourished. BB, on the other hand, has taken to hoarding his milk in his cheeks!!

See the milk hiding in his cheek there? At first J and I thought maybe it was spit up, but we checked and it isn't curdled like they say spit up is supposed to be. I guess he's storing it up for winter (or maybe just a nap). Either way, we love our little squirrel.

Houdini

BB has a very promising future career as an escape artist. How exactly he does it, we aren't sure, but in the last week he has been honing his skills and at the end of nearly every naptime he has houdini'd himself out of his swaddle.

BB when we lay him down, snug and swaddled:


BB when he wakes up:


(I may add more photos here, so stay tuned, as often he gets even more out of his swaddle than this!)

just today +happy epilogue

Today BB went on an adventure to the Tucson Children's Museum with his cousins B and K:


Then we went to lunch at Bisonwitches where we ate on an outdoor patio and BB got a little hot (despite the patio fans), so mommy created some makeshift air conditioning out of a wet napkin:

We were out of the house for several hours and BB was exhausted when we got home – after a mid-afternoon meal, he laid down for a long nap and I did a sewing project. Swaddling BB is very necessary as it adds hours to his naps but in our 100+ degree weather I feel bad wrapping him in a flannel blanket, so I sewed some light swaddle wraps out of a sheet for him. Planning to try them out tonight!

[ SIDENOTE: If the FBI were smart, they would start recruiting novice parents – parents of newborns are burgeoning experts in performing covert operations (do NOT wake up the baby while getting out the sewing machine or starting the laundry) and solving mysteries (WHY are you still crying?). Newborn parents have also developed sophisticated night vision, able to navigate in pitch black at 3 am. Surely these skills would be beneficial.]

Epilogue:
After I initially posted this Daddy, Mommy, and BB had some special time together. BB was all smiles and coos and even seemed like he was trying to laugh a couple of times as he learned he could reach out and touch Mommy's face over and over again. BB just yesterday was intentionally batting at one of his toys while sitting in his bouncy seat, happy as a clam (he is also starting not to protest anytime we put him in his bouncy seat for more than 5 minutes - yay!), so he is just learning he can reach for things and touch them and that he is in control of it. It's truly amazing and joyful to watch him wonder and learn, and I'm honored that my face got to be a prop in his development. I love being a mommy. My heart is full of this little one.



Okay time to sleep before BB houdinis his way out of his swaddle, subsequently waking himself up, as he has been doing the last couple of nights.

More Cheese, Please!

Here are more of my favorite family photos...

Lounge

Lounging in his robe after a bath on a Wednesday morning...

Say Cheese!

BB was 5 weeks old in our first lovely family photos - Photography by Jenna O.

So while taking these photos I realized in one spot I could actually see us in the store window across the way and I just couldn't resist watching a few of the photos, evaluating our pose, and re-orchestrating just a little bit - after I said "Ooh I like this!", Jenna O. realized I what I was doing and asked "Are you a firstborn?" Apparently it is that obvious.

Little Coos

BB says "Hi!"

SMILES!

Yay! BB smiled at J for the first time on Wednesday and at Mommy again last night and this morning! Makes my heart sing!

Doctor's orders and our baby's obedience issues

Barking Baby's clogged tear duct is much better - we rarely have any goopies (and never the yellow-greeny=infected kind that told us there was a problem in the first place) and only have a little clear drainage (tears) about once a day. BB hates when I wipe his face and I think part of the reason is because of all the firm eye-wiping I had to do to loosen those crusties when it was infected.

I got a clean bill of health last week at my doctor's appointment - Oh, other than the recommendation that I never give birth via the natural path again! Men, avert your eyes from the rest of this paragraph: because I had a 4th degree tear the doctor said that I should really consider the C-section option next time I am giving birth, as studies have shown that if there is rectal tissue damage a second time there is a risk of permanent rectal incontinence.....!?! Are you freaking kidding me?! This was disheartening news, as the first time I got the C-section recommendation, Dr. D. did not give me the "studies have shown" information. When I asked Dr. H about it at my 10-day follow up, she encouraged me with her personal story of a triumphant natural delivery with the birth of her second child after the traumatic, tearing, forceps delivery birth of her first child. I thought, okay, I will be able to deliver normally again, case closed. No mention of the risk of permanent rectal incontinence, not until my 6-week follow up with Dr. F. Dr. F. is the one who gave me the "studies have shown" talk. I am saddened by this information, as BB's birth was a beautiful, meaningful experience, despite the fact that nearly everything in my birth plan went out the window - it was amazing to watch his journey into the world, a true miracle, regardless of the conditions. I feel a deep sense of loss when I think that I may never experience that again. All in all, I know that none of this is a surprise to the Lord, and when the time comes I will pray for peace in whatever decision I make.

Okay, this paragraph resumes the male-friendly regularly scheduled programming. Mommy and BB (and Daddy!) are healthy and happy, praise the Lord. The only problem is BB's issues with authority - he is a very disobedient baby; despite his mother's clear instructions of "Don't grow", he continues growing like a weed! He grew out of his going-home-from-the-hospital outfit last week and today I put another outfit on him that was all big and baggy the first week and today the pants are nearly too short! While it's amazing to watch him change, it's sad to think he will never be so tiny again. The only comfort I have in BB's rebellious development is the realization I had a few days ago: J and I think we would like to have several children and it occurred to me that (depending on how many kids we have) I will probably be pregnant or taking care of a baby for the next 10 years!! (Crazy!) So while BB will keep on growing, hopefully our family will too.

Happy 6-week Birthday BB!

Barking Baby celebrated his 6-week birthday with his first visit to our church The VCC. The VCC is truly one of my favorite places, for many reasons which mostly boil down to this: people there truly seek to know God more, love God more, and love people just as they are. BB met many people who have been waiting and praying for him, and slept in the church nursery with mommy most of the time. J and I are so thankful for our church which over the past 9 years has encouraged us to be changed in our daily lives by God's Word and Jesus' love.











After a long recovery nap (for BB and mommy), we went and celebrated his cousin's 6th birthday with dinner with family. For the first time, BB was passed around to visit with different family members, and he was very sweet the whole time. He even gave his auntie Seenie one of his very first smiles! Mommy and Daddy are still waiting to see that smile again!

Photo Fix

This was taken yesterday while we played on the activity mat

The Mommy Bug

I’ve recently been afflicted with a serious condition, and as far as I can tell there is no known cure. I’ve termed this condition The Mommy Bug – I caught The Mommy Bug when I found out I was pregnant. While there were some early symptoms right off the bat, The Mommy Bug manifested itself in full force when I read in What To Expect that I should check our local water for lead content. After some online research that included analyzing the local water website’s annual report I learned that I didn’t really need to be concerned about lead in our local water, but I should be concerned about questionable levels of arsenic! I began panicking about what I could possibly do to ensure my unborn child does not receive arsenic poisoning or cancer or some other ailment from in-utero exposure to the apparently lethal Tucson water! After even more online research I called J at work to notify him that we would be purchasing a very expensive water filtration system as this was the only way to protect our innocent babe from the danger coursing through our faucets.

As I began to express the deep level of worry I had been developing about things like the menacing tap water (and some other, slightly more rational, concerns) the response I most often heard was “Welcome to parenthood”.

Now that baby has made his journey out of my uterus and into the world and has a name and personality and the cutest who-nose you’ve ever seen, The Mommy Bug has become even more symptomatic. While my concerns about our water content have diminished, so many other things to worry about keep presenting themselves and The Mommy Bug just won’t let me ignore them! SIDS, autism, infection, am I under-stimulating him?, am I over-stimulating him?, is he happy, because he doesn’t really seem happy?, is he eating enough? is he sleeping too much? what if his blood sugar is so low that he cannot wake up to tell us he’s hungry? does he like us? For weeks I took Barking Baby’s temperature every other day, worried that his umbilical cord, and then his circumcision, and then his eye, were infected (the eye actually had a clogged duct which developed a secondary infection, so 1 point for The Mommy Bug there, although he never actually had a temperature from that infection). The Mommy Bug caused me to call the pediatrician (after having 3 visits in the first 16 days of BB’s life) to ask if he thought BB was sleeping too much at night, which I’m sure gave Dr. Bean a big hardy-har-har (He told me to count my blessings). Turns out there is a condition similar to The Mommy Bug, however The Daddy Bug seems to be a much milder strain of The Mommy Bug, with significantly less severe symptoms, as The Daddy Bug allows one to remember that a 2-week old may not seem particularly happy all the time, and that new parents generally want their babies to sleep at night. All-in-all, I’m accepting that The Mommy Bug is a condition I will have to live with for the rest of my life, and I’m learning that its symptoms can become manageable even if they will never fully resolve. Evidence: I actually can’t remember the last time I took BB’s temperature. As a health care professional, I’d call that healing.

Sort Of The Food

J and I have enjoyed joking that Barking Baby really only knows us as The Food and Not The Food. J is a wonderful daddy and often gets up in the middle of the night and changes BB's diaper before calling me in to feed him - he says that BB is typically quiet and easily calmed during these times, until he calls to me to that BB is ready to eat and I respond with "Okay" or "I'll be right in" - apparently as soon as BB hears my voice he launches into passionate cries, aware that The Food is coming and he wants it NOW!

J gave BB his first bottle on July 3rd -mommy listened to him cry and cry for The Food, confused about "Where is The Food because I'M HUNGRY?!?" until he finally latched on to the special "breastflow" bottles (after 10-15 heart-wrenching (for mommy) minutes). Since then BB gets a bottle once a day and is doing pretty well (with no subsequent problems breastfeeding) and J has been officially upgraded to Sort Of The Food.

Paci-fist

Barking Baby is a comfort-sucker - when his pacifier is not available he has been known to suck on his arm or even try to stick his whole fist in his mouth.

New

J and I are new. New to blogging, and new to parenthood. Barking Baby (BB) is 5 weeks old today, and there are already so many little things that I don't want to forget.

Two nights ago when I picked him up for his early morning feeding he actually felt heavier to me - I would swear that in the 3-4 hours he slept before that feeding he grew! Today I stared at his fingernails, bewildered that they appear twice as big as they were just a few weeks ago! My tiny bug is becoming less tiny!

Barking Baby makes the cutest noises - he has started making a squealing cry when I switch sides or burp him when feeding him, like he thinks I might forget to go to the other side and he wants to be clear that "I'M STILL HUNGRY!" Just in the last few days he is making little cooing noises, not clearly happy or sad, but sweet sounds that are not crying (or barking - he has been known to bark, even from day 2, causing my mom to say "Are you sure there's not a Pekingese up there in that crib?")

He has the best expressions - he has developed very clearly distinct sad and mad faces and when that lower lip juts out and quivers a little I can't help but laugh. We have a very passionate baby. BB is doing a lot of smiling in his sleep and mommy is on the lookout for the dimples that are so obvious when he is eating - he has smiled once (on June 26th) at mommy with his eyes open and has yet to do it again. Papa Go-gee reported that he smiled at him as well, on the 1st. Can't wait to see that smile again!

All in all, I spend my days saying "He's so cute!" over and over as he smiles or does something with his hands or makes a cute sound, fully aware that those words cannot begin to express what I am really feeling inside, which is wonder and delight and joy and...full of this new little life.

"I'm thanking you, God, from a full heart,
I'm writing the book on your wonders.
I'm whistling, laughing, and jumping for joy; I'm singing your song, High God."
-Psalm 9 in The Message