getting bigger everyday...

I can't believe how much Colin is growing everyday. He wore his last newborn pampers swaddler yesterday - we're now on to size one's. I hate to admit it but I got teary-eyed when I realized my baby boy is growing up.

He's also just found his hand and will suck on the whole hand if a binky isn't available... I haven't been able to catch a picture of him doing that yet though, so instead - look at how cute he is in the bath...

Pics of the wrap :)

Baby wearing

I am a huge believer in baby wearing. After reading about all the benefits of baby wearing while I was pregnant, I researched different slings and wraps, and decided I like the hotsling. So, I searched on ebay and got a smoking deal on a super cute one; I think I spent about $10 (which al came from doing online surveys - so it was basically free!). Once Colin arrived, we quickly discovered it didn't work. He was too long, or just didn't fit right in it so I put it away, figuring I'd sell it, and just resigned myself to holding and carrying him. He was so small it didn't really matter at that point.

When he was about a month old we took him to our Bradley instructor's house to show him off and share our birth story. She is a big supporter of baby wearing and told me she really liked the maya wrap with her two little ones. So, off to craigslist I went and found one there for a good deal... which he again hated. I realized that both of these used the cradle carry, and I guess he either didn't like it or didn't feel comfortable.

A little sad that I spent $40 on two carries that he didn't like, we used the snugli for a walk. He loved the way that one held him. I didn't want to use a snugli as our main method of carrying him since I've heard various arguments from the medical field that it's not good for their development and bone structure. But, I wanted to find something that mimicked it - preferrably one I could make.

Tada! Here is what I found - used a 40% off coupon to Hobby Lobby yesterday and bought 5 yards of white cotton jersey knit (makes three wraps) and cut it this morning. He LOVES IT! Finally found an awesome solution. Will post pics of him in it later...

Sleep

Colin loves to sleep on me. I've written about that before, and how we didn't plan to co-sleep but kinda feel into it when we decided that getting sleep was more important than sticking to a plan we made before he actually arrived. It worked well, though at the beginning "sleep" mainly consisted of Colin sleeping on my chest. The first night in the hospital he was so pooped out he slept all night, not a peep out of him. The nurse came in around 4 to wake us up for his feeding (he had eated around midnight the night before) but we couldn't wake him up... extremely nervewracking and I realized then and there that a super quiet baby at night wasn't necessarily a good thing. After quite some time trying to wake him up it was decided that we'd take him to the nursery - ugh. I got ready to fight the nurses on the formula issue. Chris went with him immediately, I stayed for just a minute or two to tend to a few things, then met up with them in the nursery. Luckily, his glucose levels were great, which meant that I wouldn't have to fight the formula battle just yet. Turns out his core temp had dropped to about 97, which is very low for a newborn, and he was sleeping because he had to - no energy to be awake. The neonatal nurse wanted to keep him in the warmer for a few hours to bring his temp back up and promised he wouldn't get any formula, and that she would bring him back to us when he was better. With that, Chris and I headed back to our room to get some sleep.

The next night was much better. He acted like what I would expect a newborn to act like, but Chris and I decided to bring him to our bed. It was too hard for me to get in and out of the bed to get him when he cried, and honestly, we couldn' t take our eyes off him. That's how the co-sleeping started. He slept so much better when he was with us.

Our first night home from the hospital we learned that our beautiful plan didn't work so well. He fussed the entire time, and I finally went to the living room recliner and pseudo-slept with him on my chest all night. There was really no need for both of us to be completely sleep deprived, and Colin wasn't leaving my arms yet.

Luckily we discovered the miracle blanket somewhere around week 3 or 4 and ever since then he's only woken up once at night. Granted, he is an earlier riser (somewhere between 4:30 and 6am no matter what time he goes down for the night) but we've learned to adjust our schedules and to find nap time for us. Weekends are much easier to find time for a nap...

Right now Colin is asleep on my legs - and that's pretty much par for the course on naps - he really doesn't sleep well during the day unless he's napping on mom or dad (preferably mom). So, I have figured out how to do many things while he's napping on me...blog, clip coupons, catch up on emails, pay bills online...you get the drill. And while sometimes I think how great it would be if he napped in his crib so I could cook, clean, do laundry, use the bathroom etc... I know it won't be forever, and there will be a time that he won't want to nap on me and I'll long for this time. So for now, I'm just going to enjoy it.

Catching up...

Dear Colin,

Wow, so much has happened in the last week. I suppose I need to start getting used to that - you growing up and getting big and everything changing daily it seems. You really are getting to be such a big boy! At your doctor's appointment on Friday we learned you are 8lbs 14ozs - I cannnot believe you are almost 9lbs - you gained almost two whole pounds in about three weeks! You still love to eat :). You are also 22 1/2 inches long, so you've grown two inches since you were born. Daddy joked with the nurse who was measuring you and asked when they stopped referring to it as length and started referring to it as height... I guess we still have some time on that one.

You also had your one month "birthday". You looked so cute...see??

Also, yesterday when we were doing some "tummy time" (which you generally love) you decided it was the perfect time to roll over - from your belly to your back, amazing both mommy and daddy who were right there to see it happen for the first time ever! You then proceeded to do it several more times, as if to prove to us that it wasn't a fluke, that you knew exactly what you were doing and didn't care that all the baby books said you weren't supposed to be doing that for another month or so at least.

This is you right after rolling over from your belly:

And, to prove that your favorite place to sleep is on mommy, here's a cute picture of one of your recent naps - I have no idea how you can sleep like that, but you stayed there for over an hour...

Dear Colin,

Today you are 4 weeks old. I can't believe how quickly time is flying by! You really are getting big every day, and we can't wait to see how much you've grown when we take you to your doctor's appointment on Friday.

This weekend daddy took us up Flagstaff Mountain, and you really enjoyed being outside. It's been really hot this summer, so we thought a drive up into the mountains would be a good way to beat the heat. You slept pretty much the entire time, but we got some good pictures of you!

Lately you've been fighting naps - which means you get really tired during the day, and can only sleep when you are laying on mommy or daddy... it's your favorite thing. You slept really well last night - you generally do. We have our good days and our bad days. You are still sleeping in our bed - you just don't seem ready for your crib yet...it's so big and you are still so small. I secretly love it so I'm not in any real hurry to move you to your own bed yet.

You helped me make daddy's birthday cake yesterday when you woke up from your nap - we had fun helping dad celebrate, and you thought the best way to make it a memorable birthday for dad would be to cry throughout our lunch out! You were simply tired and again - fighting a nap. I think (hope) it's just a phase you'll grow out of.

You finally liked hanging out in your swing this morning - you were there for about 20 minutes, which let mommy get some breakfast :) Yay!

Mommy and Daddy are thinking about moving to Tulsa, where daddy's family lives - so right now we are planning that out, looking for a house for you and for jobs. We really want you to have everything, and to grow up around family, so this seems to be the best option. We are really excited about this new prospect, especially since you'll have a cousin so close to you in age.

I love you honey - you are such an amazing little guy and I can't imagine what my life was like without you in it.

Dear Colin,

You are two weeks old today. I can't believe how time flies. We've already taken you to your first doctor's appointment (June 23rd) where we learned you weighed 7 pounds! This was pretty incredible considering when we left the hospital you had dropped to 6 pounds 1 ounce. You also lost your belly button stump on June 25th and your circumcision ring on June 29th. Today daddy and I took you back to the hospital for the follow up blood work that needed to be done.

In the two weeks since you were born I've learned so many things about you, and about being a mom.

• I've learned that not even those all-nighters in college could have prepared me for the broken sleep I'm now getting!
• You make the craziest facial expressions - so many different ones I wish I could catch them all on film.
• You have the greatest smile, something you do often.
• You don't cry much, but you do make a lot of different noises. Daddy and I have nicknames for you based on a few of your noises (pteradactyl and Beeker the squeeker to name a few)
• Some of your other nicknames are: Buster, Buster Brown, Sweet Pea, Little Guy, Butt-face (when you're sleepy), Poopster, Poopybutt, Tootness, Poopy pants and Monkey.
• I also call you my little piggy because you snort and root around when you are hungry and frustrated.
• You a a very mellow, relaxed baby.
• You love to be held, and especially to be bounced by daddy (bounce with me, bounce with me)
• You generally sleep for two hours and wake up very excited to eat - I think it's your favorite thing to do so far :) Which could explain the weight gain at your first doctor's appointment.
• You've already met one gramma and will get to meet the other one this weekend.
• You have loud and stinky farts and poop.
• You love to be outside.
• You are very alert and look all around you, taking everything in.
• Daddy and I could spend hours staring at you.
• You headbutt things and flail your arms and legs around, but you are a very strong little boy who can lift his head, already tries to crawl during tummy time, and can roll over from side to side all on your own.
• You prefer to sleep on your side rather than your back.
• You prefer to sleep on our bed rather than in your crib.
• You prefer to sleep on mommy or daddy's chest rather than in our bed.
• You are still the most perfect, beautiful baby in the entire world. Your dad and I are amazed everyday at how lucky and blessed we are to have you in our lives.
• I love you more and more every day little one.

love, mama