i've been blogging at blossom risk for over two years. but, with the little one in our life now, i felt stories of his life- our life together- needed a home of their own. but where do i begin?
adam was born on september 13 and what a whirlwind life has been ever since! now that he's three months old, life with him seems like its been this way forever yet that he just got here at the same time. how is that possible? i have no idea. i do know that, and surely this goes without saying, we love him more than we could ever, ever express. he makes our life.
another reason i wanted to blog here about our life with baby adam is that i want to be able to remember the details about his life, 1-to remember it, period (i think i actually gave birth to the baby AND my brain and only brought the baby home...) and 2- as a reference for later in his life and if we ever have more children, etc. this is the closest thing to a baby journal i can complete, and i am certain it will be MORE complete since i can type it as i go. hopefully we will all appreciate these memories someday.
so now that our little one is three and a half months old....
-he sleeps through the night, going to bed at 7pm and sleeping until sometime between 6am and 7am. seven days per week. "sleeping in" around here means adam "played" in his crib until 730am. we go through the same bedtime routine every, single night at the exact same times. i know this seems anal (perhaps it is...), but hey, it works so we stick with it. i also sneak in before i go to bed, around 10 or 11pm and give adam a bottle in his sleep. without this "dream feeding" he wakes us up at 4:30am. with it, we get a whole night's rest. i know that someday we'll need to get over that and stop it, but for now i am sticking with it and plan to tackle it later.
-since we brought him home, he's HATED being on his back for any reason whatsoever. he didn't even like being held in a super-reclined position. he screamed through diaper changes, baths. his doc thought it could be reflux and prescribed infant zantac. i wasn't comfortable giving him medication so young, but we agreed to try. it made no difference, so i really don't think that was the issue. lately, however, things are getting better and he seems to be getting over it. we started bathing him flipped over our forearm, sort of tummy down, and that made bathtime much happier and now he loves it, kicking his legs like a frog the entire time. also, diaper changes are about 50/50 now, half the time crying and half he's cool. and, though we broke the cardinal parenting rule ("back to sleep") for several months, he's now sleeping on his back most of the time. the only time we allow him to be on tummy is when he simply will not settle down on his back. miraculously, we flip him over and he settles right down. honestly, i just feel that some people feel more comfortable one way or another and, after seeing and hearing my child be so stressed and upset on his back, i decided that it wasn't worth it to me to create that kind of stress for him. we rolled him over. even our pediatrician said he was strong and it was ok, so that made me feel better. also, now that he's started daycare/school, they ONLY put him down on his back until he can roll over. since he's been going there, he plays and sleeps on his back SOOO much better and more often. so it has to be helping, somehow.
-speaking of rolling, he's not, not yet. a few times i have come into his room (when he's crying) to find him on his back when we'd put him down on his tummy. so i know that it's possible for him to roll from front to back, though i'm certain he's doing it on accident. and, he'll likely roll from back to front later since he hasn't spent as much time on his back as other babies (i'd assume?). but, since he's spending more time on his tummy than other babies, he has amazing head control- our ped was over the moon about it at 2 mos- and he scoots in his crib from one end to the other every night on his tummy, using his arms and legs. he loves playing on tummy with toys and has been sitting well in his bumbo and with props since two months.
-he babbles SO much now, even this week he babbles so much more than ever before. when i talk or read to him, he talks and talks too. he also lets out dramatic, verbal sighs all the time.
-he smiles and smiles and smiles at us all the time, and has certain phrases that really bring on the cheeses (when mommy says E-I-E-I-OOOO; when daddy says YABBA DABBA DOOOO. don't ask :])
-he grabs at toys, holds them, and will even try to stuff them in his mouth. small ones that might fit and huge ones (the face of a stuffed animal?) that would never, ever fit. it's funny! and i'm so proud of him for grabbing a toy. for the longest time, i feel like i've just been shaking toys in his face.
-speaking of mouth, he's a drool factory these days. honestly, he completely soaks the fronts of his shirts sometimes and, this christmas, my brother's girlfriend held him awhile and he soaked her entire shirt sleeve and shoulder. i can feel his front two teeth right under the skin. he chews on his fingers and entire fist almost all the time, so i know teeth are in our near future. maybe another month or two. seems early to me, but it is what it is.
-i do my best to read at least two books to him when we're home together each day. he loves looking at the photos and , as i said, babbles through the book. he seems to love the photos and all the talking so we'll definitely be keeping this up.
-he loves his feet and when he spots them he grabs on.
-he is constantly curious and especially loves looking outside and going for walks outside. he is obsessed with lights-- including the television and the christmas tree. he has spent lots of time this past month under the christmas tree. and i attempt to keep his eyes off our tv, though i sometimes put him on the floor to play, only to check on him a few minutes later finding his eyes staring up above the fireplace mantel at the giant flashing light box...
-he loves bouncing in his exersaucer jumperoo. again, all the lights and sounds are very appealing to him. and being upright is always a plus for him.
so far, we've made a car trip to sc and have been on an airplane trip too. he did very well on both and, in fact, spent most of our flight grinning at the girls sitting near us. he is a total flirt and will cheese and flash dimples at anyone who talks to him. especially the ladies!
our first family christmas was spent at my parents' in sc. it was such a special time because we were all able to be together. usually eric has to work christmas, so it was nice that he was there. and, it was even better because my mom, dad, brother, his girlfriend and her daughter were all there too. adam wore the CUTEST santa suit given to him from his aunt jobeth and was a pleasure the entire trip.
going back to work has been far more difficult than i ever imagined it could be. luckily, i was able to get a compressed work-week so i'll have fridays off beginning in january. but the idea of not spending my days with my little guy just breaks my heart. i know i'll be in my current job for awhile longer, but i'll definitely be looking for a more "mommy friendly" schedule next time-- work from home, part time, flex time, etc. i do love adam's school. it's on the base where eric works, is very structured, happy, clean, friendly. i love his teachers, i love that he's being socialized, etc. they have "lesson plans" every day and work on new things all the time-- books, rolling, tummy time, etc.
little mister is in bed right now, and sometime soon i need to write out my birth story, so maybe i'll make that one of my upcoming posts! meanwhile, three months postpartum, i am losing hair hair hair hair! i feel like i am going bald-- our drain is stopped, the floor is covered, i have to clean my hair brush every time i use it. i have lost twenty of the thirty pounds i gained being pregnant and am starting work with a trainer in january to knock out the rest. most of my clothes fit, but are snug or fit oddly. i am just so ready to be back to normal, to feel comfortable in my normal jeans or something other than yoga pants and tee shirts.
so now that i've got a start, i'll keep a record of all our memories and fun in adam's life here. i could write pages and pages every day... if only i had more hours in the day!
*i took all these photos with my blackberry, so they're not as clear as i'd hoped. but i do love that i can take spontaneous photos at any time with my phone and have them online in seconds. technology is amazing!
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