Yesterday he weighed in at 13.2 pounds and 23 in. (4 weeks ago he was 8.5 lbs and 21 in.)He is a confirmed Pudge. The nurse weighed him and left...then came back to double check her numbers were right! We're in the 90th percentile. With raised eyebrows and an impressed smile, he said it's nothing to worry about until he's 2 or so, right now all that extra chub is a good and healthy thing. He says it's good for his brain, and if he happened to get sick he'd be in good shape with the extra buffer. He asked if Rowan was cooing yet, I said he grunts and growls mostly over sweet baby coos. He said that's fine too, as long as he's expressing himself...which he definitely does in his very unique ways!
I had a lot of anxiety over his first vaccines, I read how badly babies can react; the inconsolable screaming at the office, achy thighs, fever, etc. Lots of moms wrote, they'd never heard their baby cry like that, so that is what I was prepared for. He was Mr. Charm for his whole appointment, not one fuss ( a complete 180 since the previous week when I visited Greenwich Music to "show him off"- a total baby meltdown the whole visit). Then the nurse delivered the shots in about 5 seconds. It was done before he even realized what had happened and he cried for about 30 seconds! I asked about baby Tylenol and she said that it's fine to give if he gets fussy or a fever. We could call until 9pm if we had any issues.
We took our little tough guy home, fed him and put him down for a nap. Too easy. He got the shots around 10:30. He woke up from his nap around 2:30, fussed like normal during a diaper change, started walking to the living room to nurse when it became clear that he was noticing the shots. He shrieked and wailed and turned red with every movement of his legs, then he moved his legs more, shrieked more and tested his legs over and over becoming breathless with the wailing..which they were right, was like nothing I'd heard from him before. Doug called the office to get the proper dosage, we got most of it in his mouth then filled his tub with warm water which calms him down and sits him in a way where he can't move his legs so much. The shrieks lessened slightly, the dry-off was a bear. I held him, dreading how long he might be in this state. He carried on for about 5 minutes in my arms and then crashed to sleep while I was holding him. He slept another hour or so and woke up and was pleasant for the rest of the night with only a couple twinges of a scowl when he kicked a leg.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Random
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| Wally christens the play gym...like everything else |
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| IN THE CRIB! for 5 minutes before protesting. |
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| Our daily stroll, here's Rowan's new sun hat for our hot days. |
Monday, June 24, 2013
Sunday, June 23, 2013
I miss you, sleep
6 weeks and still a fussy little pudge. He likes to be held one way only, over our shoulder. No cradling, tummy hold, not faced looking out. Nothing else will do. So far we tried him with with a bottle (so Doug can feed him if I'm away too long). No problems at all. He took it like a champ and came back to me without a second thought. We tried pacifiers to help with some of the evening upsets, but he refuses them. A mixed blessing because personally I dislike pacifiers, or at least the truely addicted babies that still use them when they are way too old and talk with them in. Nursing makes him happy every time in an instant, but I end up nursing him a lot and worrying about how much he's eating. . . however, he does spit up a bit finally and I see him lose all that hard earned dinner and then feel fine about feeding him close together. . .oh, and the african tribes I've read about nursing quick spans 40 times a day, also not overfed. Maybe he'll find his fingers soon to help, but I'm going to be extra cautious about his thumb and try to prevent the orthodontist bills in 10 years.
Our sleeping routine has overall improved things, though some nights are still thorns! We've been good and consistent for 8:00 or so. If we've done day naps just right putting him down only takes about 10-15 minutes. If we've missed the window, then we have to try and wait him out until about 10:00 or worse. . .though we haven't had a 2am night in a while, thank God. We're still starting the night in the swing and bringing him in with us after that (putting him back in the swing after the first nursing wakes him up=more work for us). I'm a bit restless because of his sounds and letting him stretch out (see above diagram "snow angels") with plenty of buffer away from the much more sound sleeping of Doug. He's still waking every 2 hours. He still refuses the crib. The whole point of which was to have his right next to me to swoop him over for nursing and put him back afterwards. It wouldn't be so crowded with a king bed, but now I'm straddling a leg or arm in the attached crib to give Rowan room in the bed, THE ONE PLACE HE'LL SLEEP. Today I broke the baby bedding rule and put a little foam padding in the crib under the bedding. He can't turn over yet, and I'll reassess when he gets close, but maybe he had my bed preference genetics. His swing is squishy, our bed is squishy and his bed is like a rock. No way I could even nap on his mattress, so we'll test the baby nest tonight.
I thought the night bath routine would be a little much, after all he's not playing in the dirt. I've been surprised what accumulates on him in a day though, now that he's spitting up and grasping things-cat fur, daddy fur, and hands damp from his mouth. . . he gets "toe-jam" between his fingers. And the dirty diaper volume is still pretty high!
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Tiny Beefcake
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| This photo doesn't capture his pudge like I thought it would. |
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| His deepest sleep kicks in while sprawled on Dad. |
We hit 6 weeks today and he had the best (least fussy) day in 2-3 weeks. Is it the magical 6 week change I've read about? Probably not, but we are being forceful about naps and bedtime- he won't fall asleep on his own so Doug swaddles him up and does his rocking workout. I finally am beginning to see the necessity of the swaddle, it's endless flailing otherwise. I finally ordered a new-age velcro one, because I cannot seem to get his little arms secured no matter how I try and as soon as they are out it's Nap Over.
I'm also hoping his hair is soon to "fill in". It keeps growing in a male pattern baldness way! He has a nice ring stretching from ear to ear and just some goose down on the top. When he looks up and crinkles his brow he looks like a middle aged man and eerily like my woodwind repair instructor.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Shoe socks and Yin Yang
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| This baby is all torso! Trying out a fully coordinated outfit! |
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| Wally is beginning to reach acceptance of his noisy housemate. This is the closest he's gotten in 6 weeks. |
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Bath time
The first part of our night routine, trying to make him sleepy with a bath. He's come a long way from hating the bath and growling through it. Next comes nursing and a little baby calming massage....where it goes from there is a mystery every night right now. The first 2 hours are sound, then it's different each night and we go with the flow until after this magical 6 week age when everything starts "falling into place" . . . so say the books. We're still up at least every 2 hours, divided by extreme baby growling and grunting and fussing. Sometimes I feel like we brought home a baby bear.
The Swing
the swing at full steam helping to keep him asleep and giving our arms a rest and recovery. This is the level of vigor it's been taking to get him to fall asleep and trigger his calm.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
This and That
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| The farm quilt by Carol Arnold from the earlier picture |
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| Close up of pigs and chickens |
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| Diaper cleaning routine is working well...would be nice to have a washer and dryer but this will do |
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| Daddy time |
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| Sling experiments with our needy little guy |
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| I call this his "trucker pose." Over my right shoulder, he keeps his one arm out the window and the other on the wheel. |
Monday, June 10, 2013
One month old
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| Found a cow ear on the amazing quilt sent by "cousin" Carol...will have to take a picture of the whole farm animal quilt! |
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| Leg warmers from aunt Heather are the perfect thing for a cold house in the morning! |
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| Sweater, hat, and blanket by grandma Lynette. |
I'm slowly getting used to the house being strewn about with baby stuff everywhere; burp clothes all over for a quick grab, various blankies over couch arms, a bowl of his things on the coffee table (nail scissors, vitamin D drops, gas drops, saline and bulb syringe..) swaddling blanket rotating around the house...it's a bit hard on my anti-clutter senses. With the swing, I have more than a 10 minute burst to get as much household stuff done as possible...trash out, bills paid, load of diapers washed, quick vacuum, etc.
Rowan's doing great, though. He's getting strong quickly and the head is getting sturdy. His growing chub is allowing socks to stay on finally and the Newborn clothes are outgrown already.
L
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Getting more expressions!
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| Tummy time in his cool cloth diaper |
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| "My diaper has the wrong initial on it!" |
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| Family outing |
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| Sweet dreams, captured by Aunt Heather |
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| Story time...for Daddy |
Aunt Heather comes for a visit
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| Getting hot dogs in NYC |
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| Auntie and Rowan take the subway the first time |
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