NYC Revisited: Day Two

The morning after the wedding we slept in until a whopping 8:30. (Full disclosure I woke up at 5:45 and remembered I could keep sleeping, again at 7 and figured why not see what happened, and then at 8:30 knew that this was the latest my body could possibly understand how to stay asleep).

After a cute breakfast enjoying outdoor seating and people-watching we lazily set up our plan for the day. It revolved around eating, and particularly tracking down a portobello mushroom sandwich with mozzarella and tomato and zucchini that had once made me briefly consider being a vegetarian. We've thought about this appetizer for years and were so excited to see that even though restaurants like Orbit and Creole and One Fish Two Fish are no longer in existence, Ricardo's still was.

J-Man and I soon set off to walk from 80th and Broadway across the park and uptown to 110th and 2nd. We stopped to take some photos, though J-Man reminded me that we didn't need many. After all, we once lived here, and we can come back whenever. Still, I wanted to capture some cuteness.

By the time we'd crossed the park my legs were already laughing at me and my suburb-driving self that doesn't exercise. My hips were like "you know we could've taken a cab right? or a bus or train or uber or horse carriage..." I grabbed a Snapple from a street vendor and told those legs to shove it. I'm still as city fit as I was at 22. In my mind.

Crossing back uptown was a fun adventure. The shift in color and culture of the people on the street came a little farther north than it used to, and people were actually brunching outside above 96th street. But soon enough we were back in our neighborhood. We blended in again, the Spanish chatter started to pick up, and the city transformed into what somehow once was home. Sure enough, as we turned the final corner, there was Ricardo's just as we'd remembered it.

Actually, it was busier than we remembered. And there was a DJ playing poppy hip-hop music. We waited for a table and looked over the brunch menu only to find... what?! No portobello?!?!? How had we not considered once that the menu could have changed in the eight years since we'd last visited? We had to laugh and roll our eyes at ourselves. Of course New York was changing without us. Luckily, the menu was still delicious, and while I'm not a food-picture-taker in general, I did snap this little beauty. Maybe it'll still be around in eight more years?

We walked another six blocks north to see if Mojitos was still around too. That place was our staple once upon a time. Work happy hours, late night tacos, flaming cucarachas. Not only was it going strong, but 116th had some sort of street fair happening. It reminded me of the week after I moved in and the Puerto Rican festival just popped up outside my window. I know when Papa H dropped me off in Harlem the day after my ivy-covered college graduation we were all a little nervous about the neighborhood, but I felt nothing but happy memories standing on the corner.

And J-Man had nothing but good memories standing on his own old stoop too, just a block away from mine.

In case you're wondering, my legs insisted that we cab it back and relax for a few hours next. We watched Spotlight and dozed before starting up friend time. Highly recommended by the way.

Our next food focal point was Tony's Di Napoli. I know there's tons of great Italian food in this city so not everyone will agree, but this one is our favorite. It was always a reliable meal I could take my parents to without exotic cuisine fusions dominating the menu. V joined us - providing stories that could prove to our other college friends that she does still exist and work and isn't on a top secret government assignment - and so did Miss F.  We ordered our favorite zucchini chips and ziti and J-Man's only acceptable chicken marsala. Conversation floated from stealing babies to AMNH exhibits to new job opportunities and of course, the boys we missed so dearly. Also, because V is quite elusive - I took some proof of life.

Back on the west side we finally got to see EK and her husband and thank them for letting us treat their apartment as our personal hotel for the weekend. EK, Miss F and I ate sweets and caught up on life while the boys chatted and discussed the Olympic gymnast's compound fracture.

It was all quite lovely. A perfect little trip. And exhausted we all headed to bed happy.

Oh, and because I like snapchat still, here's my story :)

Spring and Sleeping Over

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of spring approaching. With spring come a bunch of birthdays, including Big Bro hitting a major milestone, and my little PDG coming up on birthday number four. FOUR! It hasn't happened yet, but the countdown hit single digits and that has us all feeling a bit like this.

Also, we've been enjoying our new "silly app" these past few weeks making videos along that vain. If you haven't played with #msqrd yet, I totally encourage it. And then please send me your videos so I can laugh at with you.

The bursts of warm weather are getting more consistent too, allowing for photos like this

and this

and this.

But the biggest development is that PDG got to have his very first sleepover. And who better to invite than his very very best friend Lil O? So KB and I got to further our plans of manufacturing our kids' bff-dom by adding "survived first sleepover together" to their list of reasons they should always hang out.

Lil O came over after preschool on Friday, which tested PDG's patience for a solid two hours when every gust of wind outside was disappointingly not yet his best friend. Until it was. And he came bringing a happy meal from Old McDonalds. After stuffing faces they got to run around and make messes (and then do a pretty awesome job cleaning up messes) and eventually got down to bedtime business.

Lil O got to try out his brand new Batman sleeping bag, which naturally made both MDG and PDG wish they were the ones on the floor. Then lights out to three toddlers in one tiny bedroom. Did they go right to sleep? Did you go right to sleep at sleepovers with your best friends? Yeah, neither did they. Finally around 9:39pm I turned to J-Man and said, "I don't hear anyone anymore." And then, at 5:40am I turned to J-Man and said, "you think they're really up?"

There was breakfast, a few cartoons, a lot of train tracks and blocks and every other toy in all the toy chests (minus legos, I have my limits!) and then off to the library for story time.

We were so certain they were tuckered out enough to nap after leaving the library and saying some sad goodbyes (like they wouldn't see each other in a week for the cake and presents party). Maybe Lil O did. PDG was far too hyped from the best night ever to give in to anybody's sleep.

So while Saturday night ended in much earlier bedtimes than anyone in the G house might readily admit, it was worth it for all the smiles.

Snow Day One... Of Many

Tomorrow I return to work after seven consecutive snow days. Seven. And tomorrow is a work day, so that means it will be eight business days - twelve actual days - without seeing any students. That is a really, really long time.

So long that I've lost my mind, just a tiny bit.

It started kind of cute. Wednesday night before the storm we were supposed to get a dusting. With J-Man having a terrible work trip to Atlanta all week, Mama and Papa H, along with Big Sis and Baby C, had come over for dinner and playtime. As they went to get in their car we saw this scene.

Over an hour later they made it to the onramp of the highway, only to learn the highway was shut down and not moving. Turns out no one within the beltway pre-treated the roads so it was a giant skating rink for rush hour. A little over another hour later they made it back to my house where it turned into an H family sleepover. Poor Baby C had no pack-n-play or crib, so it wasn't our best rested night in this house, but given that MDG exists, it was still far from the worst.

My school system doesn't play with snow anymore, so we shut down before midnight and the next day the boys got to ease into winter.

Little did I know that would be the beginning of an extended staycation snowed in. I'm looking forward to the return to civilization. But only sort of. I also really enjoyed an impromptu reason to stay home, build forts, watch too much TV, and get to know the neighbors through shoveling parties and shared outdoor child supervision.

What Does a G Say?

This summer I spent a kid-free church meeting jotting down the random things my boys were saying back in July in the hopes of returning to blogging. Obviously I didn't do anything with the scribbled-on program. I think it's tucked away in one of my story notebooks or jammed between couch cushions along with a few spare raisins, some crushed goldfish and probably a rainbow of peeled-off crayon wrappers.

If I ever find it, I'll write it up and add a hyperlink here.

In the meantime, now that it's November, here are some soundbites a fly on our wall might encounter. Or more likely a spider. It is fall after all.

A-town Fair 2015

"Where are my paaaaaants?"
"Darn, darnety darn, darn, darn!"
"Everything is awesome..."
(can you tell PDG's been obsessively watching the Lego Movie???)

one particular bedtime the day after daylight savings, once the door was shut:
PDG: "Waaaahhhh" (crash, boom, sounds of flailing and overtired limbs)
MDG: "PDG, stop! PDG, no!"
PDG: "I don't wanna stop! I want another song. I want another song!!!"
MDG: "Mommmmmm-myyyyyy"
PDG: "She can't hear you, MDG. (pause) Let's try it together. Mommy!!!"
MDG: "Mommmmmm-myyyyyyy."
repeat for a good long while...

"Um, excuse me, what did you say?" - PDG inserting himself into any conversation

"MDG, what color is this?" (any person pointing at any thing that is any color)
"Geen!"

Who says this is PDG's bike?

"Anything can happen, anything can happen, anything can happen" - PDG channeling Ellie Goulding

"It's a hard knock life, for me"
"Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow..."
(there's been some Annie watching too. the 2014 black version. jury's still out...)

"What song do you want?"
"ABC's"
"A-B-C-D..."
"No, backwards!"
(J-Man, turning to face the door) "A-B-C-D..."
"Not that way! Like Mommy"
(Me, wishing I'd never shared my secret talent) "Z-Y-X-W-V-and-U..."

A few MDG frequent orders:
"Mommy, wait!"
"Mommy, come!"
"Mommy, stop!"
"Pees." (please)
"Mommy, carry you." (aka will you carry me?)
"Self!" (aka I can do this myself, yo - what do you think I am, a baby?!"

"I have a headache" - J-Man
"My back hurts" - me
"We're getting old..." - both of us

....
Yes, the photos are from August. Better late than never.

Halloween Happenings 2015

You guys, the scariest thing happened on Halloween night.... I dreamed I was pregnant! It keeps happening and I keep waking up with the same unsettled feeling. I think it's because a coworker is talking about babies a ton as she gears up to start trying this spring, and given my whole crazy birth control history, I have little faith in my body to follow my program.

I love babies. I do. It was super cute to Facetime with baby C last night in her adorable pumpkin onesie. I've hit like on just about every Facebook post of kids under age one on my timeline. I can't wait for more of my friends to be at the point where they're ready for pregnancies and babies too (but zero pressure, ladies). I just keep remembering how much crazy work goes into the beginning.

Thankfully, the rest of Halloween weekend was less terrifying. We kicked it off with a trip to J-Man's work. Once again they went all out with decorations everywhere. Cubicles were covered in streamers and lights and candy and even some outdoor inflatables. The boys practiced their "trick-or-treat" or "treat" as MDG preferred, and PDG corrected everyone who thought MDG was a dinosaur instead of a dragon. I mean, what knight hangs out with dinosaurs??

Saturday we woke up with too much energy for 6:30am so we made plans with my work BFF and her kids at an indoor trampoline park. Lots of fun but lots of money. It made me want to open one of those in a town that doesn't have one yet and rake in the dough.

After buying too much candy and having an unsuccessful mama/PDG naptime, we lit the rotting pumpkins, velcroed on the costumes, and set out to go door to door.

We kept it simple, just walking up and down our own Mormon Street, and even bumped into some kids we know from Nursery. J-Man and I lagged behind a bit, letting PDG work on his social skills of walkiing up by himself to ask for candy and say thank you on his own.

What a big kid he's becoming. So grown up. No wonder I dreamed about more babies. This guy is so far from a baby I almost don't remember the four months of ear-piercing screams every two hours.

Almost.

We got back to the house and counted our stash. The boys each picked three to eat before reluctantly letting us place their pumpkin baskets out of reach. Then, even more confused, they helped us pass out other candy to other kids who came to our door.

The up side is they got to stay awake a whole extra hour. J-Man and I thought it might help our chances of last night's Fall Back not screwing over our morning. It didn't help anything though. They awoke at 5:30 like it was 6:30 and are currently showering with J-Man while I search the internet for that meme all my fellow parent friends were sharing yesterday.  Ok, found it, here you go...

Still, even with the early rising and the crazy sugar rush adrenaline craziness and the additional mandatory teeth brushing over the past 48 hours, it's been a good run.

Now, time to eat their candy and pretend like nothing happened...

MDG Summer of Crazy

The summer was hard for MDG. We're still not completely sure why. I suppose that the 18-21 month time frame is pretty overwhelming for babies. They're trying to talk, and failing, They're trying and failing to do just about everything independently, and no one knows what the heck they want.

this day apparently, he wanted an entire tub of aquaphor

At Big Sis's house, there was no pack n play or high chair, so he got thoroughly confused. Papa H started lying down with him on the air mattress for every nap and bedtime, which got him crazy spoiled. Then he got to sit on someone's lap at every meal, which got him even more spoiled. Throw in a couple tantrums and this mama was about to lose her mind.

Everyone there knew MDG as this happy-go-lucky fun kid, and then here I was with a little monster. Yes, we understood it was a phase, we aren't totally clueless, but the phase was passing slower than it had with PDG.

I don't think it helped that there was no daycare structure to his day. I tried the Camp Nicole approach, but things are always different with mom than with acaregiver. At church, when I tried to drop him off with his brother in Nursery, he flipped out. Lots of babies cry, and they're used to it, but this was the sort of irrational screaming that meant they came and found me to say either I stay with him down there or he'd have to stay with me in my Sunday School classes.

that's the wax from one of hundreds of cheese snacks we ate this summer

When it came to meal time, he mostly just wanted cheese. Not much else. Maybe yogurt. Some milk. Really he would've been happy if we just bought a cow for the backyard to be his own personal dairy supplier.

No matter what we were doing, he needed me. At the park, in the living room, walking from the van to the house. If I wasn't touching him there was a good chance he was crying. Even around other people he loved.

When he climbed out of his crib I thought I'd lost my mind. PDG never did that. PDG never did anything I mentioned in this post. PDG was this weirdly easy kid that I thought was a typical kid and now I had a typical kid that felt like an off-the-charts psycho. Had I changed? Was I a totally different parent? Could I fix it?

Nope, nope, nope. Turns out, kids are different. I should know this. Big Sis reminds me of how different she and I are all the time. My parents probably turned to each other almost daily back in the mid 80's saying, wow, Nicole sure is different than Big Sis.

At any rate, we did survive it. He's now back sleeping through the night in his toddler bed. He doesn't try to run out of the room purely because he's awake; instead he lies there patiently with PDG until given the go ahead to come out. He sits in his own grown-up chair at the table where he doesn't eat everything, but he does eat more than in July. He'll stay in Nursery with his brother as long as I disappear ninja-style while he's distracted. If he cries, he can be calmed with some snuggles.

The only battle still remaining is probably the scariest: the car seat. He unbuckles himself. We thought he was mad about me still keeping him backwards, so I gave in last week, two months short of turning two. And yet, still, I found myself pulling off the highway a few days ago because PDG (my resident whistle-blower) announced MDG was being unsafe. Sure enough, happy as a lark he'd still chosen to undo the clip and couldn't put it back together himself. If he were older I could reason with him better. As it is, it's tough to find the balance of scary enough discipline to fit how scary the consequence of this could be. I have no idea if I'm handling it right at all.

I'm hopeful, in the end, that this is part of a stage too. One that ends super duper fast.

MDG at 8 Months

On a more uplifting note.... MDG is eight months old!

So, what is he up to, you ask? Way too much. He can pull himself up on anything, and stand while holding on with just one hand. He claps when you clap and sometimes waves when you wave. And, as always, smiles nonstop.

He cut his first tooth during our trip to see Big Sis and is working on #2 as we speak.

His sleep went in reverse right at 7 months, and he's back to waking once or twice for a paci. He's also sharing a room with PDG now, so we haven't been letting him cry much. Not sure if we'll keep that no-cry strategy up during this month or not. Those early wake-up calls are just around the corner again.

He eats pretty much everything now except the common allergens. He downs a pack of baby food at every meal plus usually some cheerios or puffs and any bites of our food that he can manage.  We're looking forward to sharing more and more finger foods next month and moving away from purees.

Somewhat related, his nursing appetite has outmatched my output, so he takes a small bottle of formula at nighttime too.  This switchover will keep happening throughout the month as we have decided to wean fully before going back to school.  I'm sure I'll write more on that later.

Still no babbling, but given how much PDG is talking these days, maybe he just doesn't know how to interrupt!  Just lots of heavy excited breathing, wiggling his wrists, and smiling when he wants to say he's excited.

Such a happy, happy boy.

Seven Months of MDG

During this past month of insufficient blogging and school year ending and heat waves and me time and June and all, our baby MDG grew up some more. It just keeps happening!

Seven months old.

So, what is he up to? Well, for one, he learned to crawl in June. Way earlier than PDG did. He started rolling one day and then doing a roll-sit-roll combo a couple days later and then wham-o, he had it all figured out. And by the 7-month marker he even figured out how to pull up to standing on certain objects and do a little bear-crawl too. Time to re-baby-proof everything.

 

He started getting the hang of solids more and more. He's added in some non-purees like bananas and sweet potatoes as well as the Gerber puffs and yogurt bites and fruits in that pacifier-mesh-thing. Not as excited about veggies, but you can usually trick him by mixing in some sweet fruits, or alternating bites so he doesn't know what's coming next.

His sleep continues to follow an algorithm even the greatest mathematicians couldn't break. Some nights 7-4 then back down for more sleep. Some 7 to 12 or 1, frantic screaming until nursed, then back down til 5:45 then up for the day. Some nights other random awakenings just to find the paci. I've given up figuring it out. We do give an extra two ounces of milk from a bottle after I nurse at night now, just to make sure his belly is full enough to make it through the night. I can't tell if my body is adequately keeping up with him, but that's another whole post about breastfeeding and self-doubt of its own.

His hair is coming in more and more, and even starting to curl!

He now sits in the tub with PDG for bathtime without any sort of support.  Usually it's a lot of giggles before a quick shift to I'm-tired-get-me-out-of-here cries.

The best part about this month has been just how much the boys have started interacting with each other.  They make each other laugh and melt my heart.  MDG watches PDG's every move, mimics what he can, laughs when he can't, and lights up whenever he enters the room.  Sure it's annoying that PDG now wakes up earlier because he hears MDG get up somewhere in the 6am range, but what better way to start a summer morning than to see one boy in his bed, the other in his crib, and both giggling and wiggling as they watch each other?

Go to Sleep, MDG

When people ask me what the hardest thing about being a mom is, I usually answer with one word.

Sleep.

I'm a nine-hours-a-night gal.  I like my sleep.  Correction, I love  my sleep.  In fact, I have trouble surviving without it. Just ask J-Man.

No, don't.  Please.  He might be too honest and I can tell you that me without sleep is even worse than me without food.

So before MDG was born I tried to brace myself.  I remembered that with PDG we pretty much suffered for four straight months.  When he would wake, the only way to get him back to sleep was nursing.  On nights when he'd wake four or five times, that was a whole lot of nursing.  And a super sleepy mama.

With MDG I figured it'd be the same.  He'd wake a bunch.  I'd nurse him a bunch.  He'd fall back asleep.  And at four months he'd figure it out by crying some and life would be a dream.

Well.  Not quite.

First of all, MDG didn't fall back asleep.  He just didn't.  And he didn't necessarily wake because he was hungry.  It has all been very confusing.  When you're operating on minimal sleep, 2am confusion is pretty infuriating.

We've tried everything.  The bassinet, the pack-n-play, the swing, the carseat, the couch, our bed, swaddled, unswaddled, short naps, long naps.  They all would work.... sometimes.  And they all didn't work with any consistency.  Maddening. Belly-sleeping seemed the best bet once he got neck control, but even that was ruined by his learning to roll over only one direction.

Eventually we got to the week of MDG's four month birthday and decided it was time for some crying.  Let me preface this by saying that if you are against your baby crying and you can function as a family with resolving every whimper through the night, I fully respect your decision.  I couldn't.  My family couldn't.  So we buckled down for a little loudness in the hopes of "short term pain, long term gain."  And no, I don't like hearing my baby cry.  I just wasn't functioning.

We didn't let him go more than a half hour at a time, but he figured out bedtime right away.  That was easy for him.  Give him a paci, plop him on his belly, give him 3-5 minutes of squirming and a little fussing and he was out.

But, then came an hour and a half later and he'd be rolled onto his back screaming.  Then two hours after that. Then another hour and time to eat.  Then another hour.  Then maybe two more and time to eat.  Then another hour and I might as well get up and start my day.  Try teaching classes of 30 teenagers after that night.  Again and again. 

By the end of the week I was starting to think that crying it out was way worse than the rocking and nursing routine we'd had before.   How could that be?  With PDG it had worked like a charm. I had resisted, but the doctor had been right and he really started sleeping.  But MDG, not quite.

So when finally on the sixth night he woke once at 10 for a paci and then once at 3 to nurse and that was it, I nearly jumped out of bed with a song when my alarm sounded.  I bounced around my classroom.  I felt good. No, great.

Of course, it's been about six weeks since we started this venture and it's been two steps forward one step back the whole way.  He's weaned himself down to no feedings at night, but still clings to the rolling over and losing the paci troubles.  And that darn stomach bug threw a wrench in everything back in April.

I just keep telling myself he'll learn to sleep some day.  Or he'll be like his dad and eventually discover mindless charms like Aqua Teen Hunger Force or nerdy NPR podcasts to lull him to sleep each time he wakes at night.

And one day, I know because it happened with PDG, I will wish he still needed me at 2am.  I'll lie in bed with the silence of the sleeping house surrounding me, remembering when he fit in the curve of my arms, with no words to convey his wants, only eyes too bright for the hour of the evening and the satisfied smile of having every need met in a gentle sway.  I'll laugh at myself for missing this.  And then hopefully I'll reread these notes and get the nostalgia I need to take off my rose-tinted glasses and go back to bed myself.

Smell the Flowers

Sometimes we have bad days.  Or nights.  Or weeks.  Or perhaps bad weeks of nights.

On those days you've just gotta remember to stop and smell the flowers.  Like PDG here.

And, thanks to my doting J-Man, like I can too at work right now.

Aren't 'just because' flowers the best?  Especially when nobody is sleeping well and the Valentine's flowers got lost in a snowstorm and the return to actually teaching five days straight is exhausting?

If only there were a beef jerky delivery so I could return the favor.  Then he could be both embarrassed and excited to receive the surprise at work.  And he could tell his coworkers "now this is how you keep a husband happy" like I explained to my self-involved, teenage 6th period students.

Maybe I'll invent that one day.  When I'm finally sleeping again.

Snow Days: March Edition

The snow is back.  It's both incredibly frustrating and intensely magical.  I mean, we'll be in school forever at this rate, but by then MDG should be sleeping better and there will be more sunlight so I think I'm ok with that.

But seriously, this is a lot of snow.  And ice.  I'm starting to think it's an elaborate ploy by Disney to get us to keep wanting to see and listen to Frozen.  Which, if so, is totally working.  I'm such a musicals junkie.

Today, however, is day four of my weekend/snow day March edition.  Yesterday J-Man got to stay home from his first day at his new job and we were super productive.  We finally hung some things in the nursery.  We cleared out the drawers of 0-3mo items and switched to all 3-6mo stuff.  I didn't even cry putting away things that no child of mine will ever wear again. They're just folded and sorted until friends/family can put them to good use.

In an effort to keep up productivity, today I've done more than one load of laundry, and even folded it without anybody shouting "clothes" and pulling all the piles out of the basket/off the table onto the floor.  And that, dear friends, is because both my babies have been napping for over an hour simultaneously.

We've had simultaneous naps before, but rarely this long.  It's fabulous.  I'm so excited I can't even sleep.  Instead I've folded (obviously), plucked my eyebrows, eaten Girl Scout cookies without having to hide or share them, and even started writing this blog.  Time will tell if I get to finish it too.  Breathing patterns are suggesting yes.

I know stay-at-home-mom isn't for me, but days like this do trick a girl.  Sleeping in til 7am having only nursed twice during the night?  Simultaneous naps?  Cookies?  Throw in a shower and this could be heaven.  Ha, you knew showering would've been asking too much, right? We'll try for tonight.

So we'll see what happens when everyone's up and hungry and rested and ready to burn energy one way or another.  Maybe we'll clean off the car? Bake cookies?  Or will it be meltdowns and competitions for mama's arms and lap and comfort?

Who knows... Until then I think I'll drink more soda, watch a non-animated, uneducational tv show, and avoid flushing the toilet to keep this miracle going even longer.

MDG at Two Months

It's been a rough go of things here lately.  Hence the month-long hiatus.  But, as it has been pointed out to me recently, writing is good for me when life is throwing lemons, so here goes.

Rather than elaborating on how I haven't been so happy and why, let's talk about MDG.

He had his two month check up recently and weighed in at a whopping 13lb 4oz - nearly double birth weight!  That puts him at 75th percentile. His pediatrician was pleased and suggested that we start to wean from those night feedings so that by 3 months, by which time he'll certainly be 14lbs (her magic number) he will sleep 10 hours straight.  We've been working on dropping that first feeding and can now sometimes get from 9pm-5:30am with one nursing session.  But he is still waking at least once more for some love and attention too.  I know there are a billion theories on baby sleep.  I have no clue which ones really apply to this baby.  So, given the sadness going on, we're prioritizing mama's sleep and just making it work until he's more like 4 months and can handle self-soothing and crying it out.  So yeah, he does still sleep in the swing more often than I'd care to actually admit.

these swaddle sacks save my life

He was more average for height at 23" and has started wearing some 6month sleepers already.  I'm trying to get him as many wears in his adorable 0-3 month outfits as possible, but along with moving into size 2 diapers last week, he's outgrowing these clothes too.

Not that two month olds do much, he does the normal things.  Follows us with his eyes. Coos plenty.  And unlike his big brother at this age, gives away smiles for free. Just smiling at him can get a huge one back in response.  It's really quite fabulous.

minutes before his appt and shots

We had a brief anxiety-inducing issue when he started daycare and refused bottles, but he's doing pretty well with them again now.  I think he was just stubbornly waiting for the real deal before realizing eight hours on just four or five ounces wouldn't make anybody happy.  Now it's more like 12-16oz, a manageable number I can pump without dipping into the freezer just yet.

Oh, and he takes a paci with no trouble now.  Crazy, right?  He's been congested with some germs that PDG likely hacked all over him, but besides when the snot blocks his breathing easily, he really likes the soothing pacifiers.

Overall, he's healthy and happy.  Just not a sleeper.  And given how he looks like his daddy, there's a good chance that this poor sleeping thing might also be a link the two of them share.  If so, pray for us all.  Seriously :)

One Month of MDG

Holy cow it's been a month!

Not gonna lie, some of these days have been eternities, but some have actually flown by.

one week 

All in all I think early December was a pretty great time to have a baby.  Not only does Christmas break minimize my days-without-pay portion of my leave, but it has also meant more days with J-Man and an extra reason to get to see Big Sis and her family, as well as facetime a bunch with Big Bro and his. Plus, so many cheesy holiday movies on TV all day and night and a general positive spirit in everybody. Yeah.  December was pretty great.

also one week

Of course, it's January now.  Things, they are a-changing.  J-Man is back at work, I go back in a little over two weeks, it's all getting to be quite real.

I may or may not post again about my broader thoughts on the New Year, resolutions and whatnot, but let's reflect on lil MDG for a moment.

three weeks

At birth MDG was 7lbs even and 19 inches, and four days later he had lost a few ounces and regained them to be at 7lbs 1oz and 19.5 in.  By his two week appointment, which was actually day 16 not 14, he was up to 8lbs7oz and 20.5in.  Growing like a weed.  Which, thankfully, makes breastfeeding feel worthwhile since once again, it's not so pleasant.  Not as bad as with PDG, perhaps because I know it gets better? or because PDG already scarred me?, but still not roses and daisies and sunshine.  At least it's working, though, and MDG is getting everything he needs to fill in those cheeks and thighs and add extra creases to keep bathtime a challenge.

four weeks

His sleep is still rough.  Despite the fact that with PDG I had strong opinions on letting him sleep in my arms/bed at night - we're in survival mode.  So, yes, MDG does all his naps in the swing or my arms, and at night has also had stints in the swing, carseat, crook of my arm, and on our luckier nights, his bassinet.  He seems to like the swaddle blankets, and perhaps we'll throw in some white noise to see if that helps anything.  We're just too nervous to make the switch to crib like we did with PDG at 3 weeks.  Especially since PDG sleeps amazingly now and loves bedtime, the thought of messing that up seems unwise (they'll share a room...).

I'm hopeful that January will bring us smiles and more coos (he's just started some non-fussy noises!) and more batting at toys hanging in his face. But no matter what, we're along for the ride.

Happy One Month, MDG, and to everyone else, Happy New Year.