I sat down to my computer on Sunday and started to write a post about returning to work the next week. It would include how worried I am about being away from LBZ. It would include my fears that he would never re-learn to take a bottle and that he might cry all day. It would include thoughts of quitting my job in order to never be away from my children again. It would show all of the doubt I had in my decision to return to work, even though I claimed to feel great about the decision.
It was going to be an intense post. But then, I found this. It is the post I wrote almost 3 years ago, exactly 1 week before I was to return to work after having BBZ. I re-read this post and suddenly felt relieved.
You see, every single emotion I am feeling now, I felt then. Everything. He wouldn't take a bottle either, and I worried that he never would and that he would cry all day. I worried that I wouldn't be able to leave him. I worried that I wouldn't be able to do my job. I worried that I was making a huge mistake by returning to work. Every single emotion was identical.
BBZ had a bit of a hard time when I returned to work, but by the end of that first week, he had figured it out. Much like LBZ will, I am sure. We adjusted into our working mom lifestyle and have been living it happily for almost 3 years. While I am going to miss my sweet boy more than words can say, I know he will be ok. I know I will be ok.
I'll look forward to pumping, so I can imagine being with him. I will look forward to being reunited at the end of the day and how happy I will be to see his sweet smile. I will cry on my way to work and be sad about leaving, which will improve over time. I will look forward to him starting BBZ's daycare so they can be together. I will try and remember why I am working: to set a strong example of work ethic for my sons and to be able to provide them with the things they need in life. To be able to save for their future and for ours. To be able to live in a house in one of the best school districts in the state. Because it is the decision that is best for our family.
And luckily, I have a private office so I can close the door and cry as many times as I want.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Little Brother Z is 2 Months Old!
Stats added on 11/14/11: 12lbs, 4 oz and 23in long. 50th percentile for everything!
Dear LBZ,
Oh my sweet baby Lu, we are having so much fun with you! You have brought such joy into our home and have sealed our family of four off so nicely.
You slept for an amazing 8.5 hours one night this week, on your 8 week birthday as a matter of fact, but that certainly did not become your new normal. You usually sleep about 4-5 hours first, then are up every 3-4 hours or so. It is certainly better that every 2-3 hours, which is what you were doing for quite some time.
I was worried that you might have reflux or some sensitivity to what I was eating because of you terrible fussy time from 8-10pm, but that has also improved, especially since I stopped eating salads and broccoli. I couldn't eat broccoli when I was pregnant either. Funny how that continues now!
You now completely refuse to take the bottle. You were doing so well, that I figured you didn't need to have one each day. Then I got lazy and we went about a week or so without offering. You haven't taken one since. Hopefully you will figure it out when I go back to work in about 10 days. I sure hope so!
You don't always want to nurse or rock to sleep. In fact, you would much rather drift off in your swing or wrapped up in your swaddle blanket on the boppy in your crib. I am not used to a baby who doesn't like to nurse to sleep! I sometimes miss you when you are awake and I lay you in your crib, but you often drift right off if left alone. I know I will love that one day!
You are growing like crazy and I can't wait to see how much you weigh! Look how you have grown!
We are having so much fun watching you grow, sweet LBZ. We can't wait to see what is to come!
Love,
Mommy
Dear LBZ,
Oh my sweet baby Lu, we are having so much fun with you! You have brought such joy into our home and have sealed our family of four off so nicely.
You slept for an amazing 8.5 hours one night this week, on your 8 week birthday as a matter of fact, but that certainly did not become your new normal. You usually sleep about 4-5 hours first, then are up every 3-4 hours or so. It is certainly better that every 2-3 hours, which is what you were doing for quite some time.
I was worried that you might have reflux or some sensitivity to what I was eating because of you terrible fussy time from 8-10pm, but that has also improved, especially since I stopped eating salads and broccoli. I couldn't eat broccoli when I was pregnant either. Funny how that continues now!
You now completely refuse to take the bottle. You were doing so well, that I figured you didn't need to have one each day. Then I got lazy and we went about a week or so without offering. You haven't taken one since. Hopefully you will figure it out when I go back to work in about 10 days. I sure hope so!
You don't always want to nurse or rock to sleep. In fact, you would much rather drift off in your swing or wrapped up in your swaddle blanket on the boppy in your crib. I am not used to a baby who doesn't like to nurse to sleep! I sometimes miss you when you are awake and I lay you in your crib, but you often drift right off if left alone. I know I will love that one day!
You are growing like crazy and I can't wait to see how much you weigh! Look how you have grown!
Oh how I love this sweet smile :)
I can't get this picture to rotate, but you finally fit into (and I finally started to use) your brother's cloth diapers!
BBZ finally agreed to hold you. I think he was afraid of hurting you.
All dressed for the World Series! He even got a new BG 4.0 baseball diaper!
There is nothing in the world cuter than a baby boy in jeans and a striped shirt :)
Tummy time!
There is a picture of BBZ in this same outfit! I'm going to have to start labeling pictures since you look so much alike. Check out the picture here!
We are having so much fun watching you grow, sweet LBZ. We can't wait to see what is to come!
Love,
Mommy
Monday, November 7, 2011
One son is and one son isn't: How we came to our circumcision decision.
I would like to begin this post by saying that this is a very touchy subject for some. It's one of those hot topics that people are often passionate about. This is simply our family's story about circumcision. I share it because of my own struggle with this decision in hopes that others will do what they feel is right for them and their sons. Whatever that decision might be.
When we found out BBZ was a boy in April of 2008, we were over the moon with excitement about our sweet baby boy. N and I both desperately wanted a boy, so we were thrilled that our dream was going to come true.
Surprisingly, there were only two people who asked me what our plan was for circumcision...my mom and a friend from work. My mom wondered if we thought much about it and let me know about some extended family members who decided not to circumcise. I thought about it some and didn't like the idea of circumcising, but N seemed to think we needed to and I kind of went along. I really didn't think I had much of a choice about it. It seemed like it's just what people did.
As it came closer to BBZ's birth, I became more uncomfortable with the idea of having him circumcised. The few times I spoke with N about it, he continued to feel that we needed to do the procedure. Unsure of how I felt I went along with it. N didn't press the issue and neither did I. Looking back, I felt an enormous amount of social pressure to circumcise, even though my gut told me not to.
The day after he was born, my OB said that she would do the circumcision the next day, which was to be the day we would take him home. This concerned me because I realized I would be taking him home with an injury. I somehow thought that he should have the procedure done that day in case something went wrong. I suddenly felt like I really didn't want to do it, but I didn't say anything to anyone. Not even N.
The next day I had to give consent for the circumcision and reluctantly did. When they brought him into the room and I saw what I had consented to have done to my perfect, natural little boy, I nearly vomited. They literally cut the top of his penis off. Because I asked them to.
As the new mom, I felt an incredible need to care for what I saw as an injury, so N did very little of the care in those first few weeks. Care involved covering pieces of gauze with A&D ointment and covering the top of BBZ's penis with the gauze at each diaper change. This was so the diaper would not adhere to his healing penis.
At his 1-month appointment, his doctor showed me that his remaining foreskin was adhering to the part that was cut. She had to pull the foreskin down, which exposed red skin that also needed to be covered with ointment in order to heal. For the next four months, I had to pull the adhered foreskin off of the top of his penis and apply ointment periodically.
I realize that this is not typical for a circumcision, but this was our experience. The guilt I felt at each diaper change was horrible. I realized that what was done was done, but I really beat myself up for not following my gut for months following his birth. Even now, I am so angry at myself for being so influenced by societal expectations that I couldn't stand by my own views. I was ashamed and embarrassed and ultimately angry.
As we started to think about having another baby, I wondered how I would handle things if we had another boy. When we found out LBZ was a boy in April of 2011, and after I celebrated the fact that we were going to have 2 sweet little boys, I immediately wondered whether or not to circumcise.
N and I talked a lot about it. While I felt very strong about not circumcising, I wanted to explore N's ideas as a man and also take into consideration what it would be like for brothers to grow up looking well, different. Different not only from each other, but one different from both his brother and his dad.
I posted a message to the LLL board I belong to and asked to hear from people who had an older son who's circumcised and a younger son who wasn't. I was pleasantly surprised to get a response from at least 7 families who had this scenario. I spoke with most of them about how they came to their decision, what their husbands thought, and their concerns about the boys being different.
Most of the moms didn't think much of the circumcision with their first child, but decided to make a different choice with their second and subsequent children. Many of them also dismissed the concerns about the boys looking different because of the many other ways they would look different. None of them had a negative view of the decision they made.
I also started doing research. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) does not make a stance either way on the issue. The exact statement can be found here. I found one study that looked at instances of baby boys acquiring urinary tract infections (UTIs) and compared boys in the UK with boys in the United States. The study found that boys in the UK (where circumcision rates are much, much lower that in the US) UTIs were about twice as likely to occur in the baby boys in the UK. The study stated that the results did not prove causation.
N and I spoke at length many times as I perused online information and spoke with the other moms who experienced it. I also found a blog post written by a man who was the younger son in a family of two boys where he was uncircumcised and his older brother was. He talked about his comfort level and his experience being "different" from his brother. He talked very personally and positively about his experiences.
N summarized it best the day we finalized our decision. Parents who do circumcise do it for cosmetic reasons and for possible health considerations. Parents who choose not to circumcise do so in order to avoid possible pain to the infant. That's a pretty simple explanation. I wanted to do anything to avoid any pain to my second son, especially after the difficult time his brother had. N recognized my passion for the issue and agreed that we should not have LBZ circumcised. My opinion is that he was indifferent about the issue and since it meant so much to me, he supported me.
I can't really explain how confident and happy I am about our decision to not have LBZ circumcised. It was so easy to not do anything and to care for him just as he was when he was born. He looks just perfect to me, the way he should. The biggest concern is making sure that anyone who watches him knows to never pull the foreskin back during diaper changes. Everything else is as natural as he was meant to be.
I realize that LBZ might have questions about why he looks different than his brother, but the truth is that we learned something after BBZ was born and decided to make a different decision this time. I am confident that I will be able to explain this to him one day, should he have questions or concerns.
The biggest lesson learned for me is to trust myself and not be influenced by others' opinions. Just as the AAP states "To make an informed choice, parents of all male infants should be given accurate and unbiased information and be provided the opportunity to discuss this decision". Knowledge is power.
Many new soon-to-be-parents I know have watched a circumcision video on YouTube as a part of their decision making. I cannot bring myself to watch it as I still carry some guilt for putting my 3 day old infant through what became a 4-month issue. The people I know who watched it found it to be beneficial when making their decision about their infant sons.
Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I do not pretend to know what is best for baby boys. I just know what was the best decision for MY baby boy. And I feel great about our decision!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
I will get a blog post published while the baby sleeps!
A lot has been happening around here, although you wouldn't be able to tell by my blog. This one will have to be quick.
My grandfather passed away last week. My mom came in town after he went into the hospital because it was unclear if and when he would be able to go home. LBZ and I went to see him in the hospital on Tuesday and he passed away Thursday night. I am so happy that we were able to visit with him before he died. The funeral was this past weekend and while difficult, was a wonderful way to say our goodbyes. It's all still a bit surreal. In the funeral home there was a poster that listed reasons why we have funerals. One was "to contemplate life and death". I've been doing a lot of that since his death and have a whole post in my head about it. One day I'll post it. This was him and my grandmother at his 90th birthday this past July.
I have 2.5 weeks left of maternity leave. While I am nervous and sad about being away from LBZ, I am also ready to be back into a routine. I dread getting 2 children out of this house and me to work on time in the morning, but we will figure it out. LBZ doesn't actually start daycare for another 3 weeks after I go back since he'll be here with my mom, so that will ease us all into the whole morning routine.
The Cardinals won the World Series!!! This city is a baseball town anyway, so give us a winning team and the town goes wild! It has been so fun living here when the Cards played in the post season. Game 6 was absolutely amazing! Seeing everyone in their Cardinal gear and all rooting for the same thing is pretty cool. Plus it was a fun excuse to get together with friends on random weeknights. Something extra fun for me since I am off work and all. Go Cards!
We got out of the habit of offering LBZ a bottle and he has since decided that he totally prefers me to any plastic bottle. It's my own fault for slacking off, but it's hard to pump and offer the bottle when I can just do it myself. I hate seeing him struggle with the bottle and am kicking myself for letting it get bad again. He was doing so well! We're going to keep trying, but I think I will need to leave when N tries it. I can't handle hearing him cry when I know I can fix it by nursing him.
I cannot believe it is November already. Maybe it's because it is 72 degrees out today. Tomorrow is supposed to cool off, so maybe then it will feel like fall. I love Fall holidays. Here are some pictures from our festivities...
The cuteness is completely overwhelming. They also did a full body shot because he has these awesome red Kangaroos shoes that matched his shirt. Man, I love this little guy!
LBZ is a terrible sleeper. Plain and simple. I've been trying everything and he is finally sleeping a 5-hour stretch, then a 4-hour one, then a 3 hour one. I can deal with this, even if I have to go back to work. At least it is predictable. It seems to change about every other day, but I have to really watch what I eat, when I eat it, when I have my 8 ounces of caffeinated soda that I allow myself and be sure to stay away from broccoli (my very, very favorite vegetable) and even then he might not sleep well. This little one is a stinker, that's for sure. But maybe then he'll be an awesome sleeper as a toddler?? A girl can dream, right?
My grandfather passed away last week. My mom came in town after he went into the hospital because it was unclear if and when he would be able to go home. LBZ and I went to see him in the hospital on Tuesday and he passed away Thursday night. I am so happy that we were able to visit with him before he died. The funeral was this past weekend and while difficult, was a wonderful way to say our goodbyes. It's all still a bit surreal. In the funeral home there was a poster that listed reasons why we have funerals. One was "to contemplate life and death". I've been doing a lot of that since his death and have a whole post in my head about it. One day I'll post it. This was him and my grandmother at his 90th birthday this past July.
I have 2.5 weeks left of maternity leave. While I am nervous and sad about being away from LBZ, I am also ready to be back into a routine. I dread getting 2 children out of this house and me to work on time in the morning, but we will figure it out. LBZ doesn't actually start daycare for another 3 weeks after I go back since he'll be here with my mom, so that will ease us all into the whole morning routine.
The Cardinals won the World Series!!! This city is a baseball town anyway, so give us a winning team and the town goes wild! It has been so fun living here when the Cards played in the post season. Game 6 was absolutely amazing! Seeing everyone in their Cardinal gear and all rooting for the same thing is pretty cool. Plus it was a fun excuse to get together with friends on random weeknights. Something extra fun for me since I am off work and all. Go Cards!
We got out of the habit of offering LBZ a bottle and he has since decided that he totally prefers me to any plastic bottle. It's my own fault for slacking off, but it's hard to pump and offer the bottle when I can just do it myself. I hate seeing him struggle with the bottle and am kicking myself for letting it get bad again. He was doing so well! We're going to keep trying, but I think I will need to leave when N tries it. I can't handle hearing him cry when I know I can fix it by nursing him.
I cannot believe it is November already. Maybe it's because it is 72 degrees out today. Tomorrow is supposed to cool off, so maybe then it will feel like fall. I love Fall holidays. Here are some pictures from our festivities...
I really love this time of year. I'm excited to get all of my sweaters out and be bundled up when going outside. I love all the changing colors and falling leaves...what a great season this is.
And of course, there's Halloween...
We had a great time celebrating at a friend's house again this year. BBZ was a champion trick or treater! Now we have a ridiculous amount of candy in our house that I have to constantly resist. It's kind of exhausting. I'll have to hide it from myself very, very soon.
Look how big my little boy is!! It's his very first school picture.
LBZ is a terrible sleeper. Plain and simple. I've been trying everything and he is finally sleeping a 5-hour stretch, then a 4-hour one, then a 3 hour one. I can deal with this, even if I have to go back to work. At least it is predictable. It seems to change about every other day, but I have to really watch what I eat, when I eat it, when I have my 8 ounces of caffeinated soda that I allow myself and be sure to stay away from broccoli (my very, very favorite vegetable) and even then he might not sleep well. This little one is a stinker, that's for sure. But maybe then he'll be an awesome sleeper as a toddler?? A girl can dream, right?
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Lots of random updates
We have been super busy around here! Too busy to blog, clearly. That is my excuse for the following completely random collection of updates on our goings on.
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I am finally starting to feel better. I have been struck with illness after illness since my sweet LBZ was born, so this healthy feeling has been a long-time coming. I caught a virus from BBZ that turned into bronchitis that has been hanging on for about a month. I'm finally able to go a few hours without coughing my head off and my bruised rib is finally healing. Whew, that was a long sickness!
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I did end up going to the concert last week after all, and I am so glad I did. N's sister and her family came over to watch the boys and they both did just fine. The show was absolutely incredible. It was held in a newly remodled venue downtown that I hadn't been to before. The band hasn't been to our city in 4 years, so as I stood in this amazing place, looking around at so many strangers with familiar faces (the world for this type of music is very small) I felt the amazing energy of everyone being in the same place for the same party. There were a few thousand people there, but I felt like I knew everyone. The music was incredible, and I got to feel my most favorite emotion with regard to music...the minute or so between songs when you wonder what song they are going to play next. Is it the one song you hoped you'd hear this show? The one that brings back memories from my first show 10 years ago? Oh, the anticiaption. There is nothing in the world like it.
So needless to say, we had an incredible time. And both boys survived. I am so glad I went.
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LBZ could be competing for the worst sleeper on the planet. He still has his super fussy time, right at the end of my day when I want nothing but to crawl in bed and go to sleep. I am in the middle of a caffeine experiment. I had been allowing myself 1 caffeinated soda per day, like I did when I was pregnant, but I began to wonder if it was affecting LBZ more than I realized. I keep moving the time up...it was no later than 4pm, then no later than noon, this am I drank it first thing around 8am and will see if it changes things. His awake time yesterday was more around 5pm and he was asleep for the night at 9pm. So maybe this is it?? If it seems to help but isn't perfect, I think I will be giving up the caffeine all together. Sad, but worth it if my sweet boy sleeps. His longest stretch is 4.5 hours, which is usually the first one. He's up about every 1.5-3 hours after that. This mama is sleepy, but surviving.
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I am back into my jeans! The jeans that I wore first after BBZ was born anyway. My little-bit-bigger jeans, but whatever. They button and zip and don't have an elastic waist band, so I'm happy. It's so nice to be able to wear normal clothes. I have abotu 10 pounds to go to be where I was when I got pregnant, but I hope to lose another 5 since I put on about 5 the month or so before I got pregnant. I feel good and am happy that the pounds are just falling off the way they did with BBZ. Hooray for breastfeeding!
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Speaking of breastfeeding, it is going wonderfully! And LBZ is taking a bottle about every other day from daddy very well. I can't believe how much freedom him having that bottle gives me. I missed that with BBZ and didn't even realize it. I have been able to spend more with with BBZ and not have to worry about being gane a little longer since daddy can feed LBZ. It's awesome.
I went to a breastfeeding and parenting seminar hosted by our local LLL a few weekends ago and took LBZ with me. It was so great to be surrounded by like-minded nursing moms and be able to provide for LBZ whatever he needed whenever he needed it without worrying about covering up or being judged. It was great practice in confidence, which has carried over to outside the seminar. I am already much more confident about nursing in public that I was ith BBZ, and this just added to it. It was a great way to spend a Saturday.
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I cut all of my hair off! I was going back and forth about it, and when I went to my hairdresser and told her I couldn't decide, she told me to go for it, and I'm so glad she did! I've always had a wave to my hair, but this haircut made my hair straight-up curly! It's awesome because I can just scrunch some product in it and go, or straighten it for a sleeker look. I seriously love it and plan to keep it this length for a while. Somehting about this last pregnancy messed up my hair. It felt so unhealthy. It really needed to go. It was the best decision!
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I'm sure that I have mentioned on here that BBZ stutters sometimes. He has stopped for the most part, which is a relief. He is starting to learn his letters, so now when we talk he'll start sounding out the first letter to a word and say what letter it is. It sounds so much like when he stuttered, but it's intentional. It is s-s-s-s-s-o cute!!
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LBZ has been smiling since 10/6/11. I need to write that in his baby book. Well, I finally caught it on camera!
Little cutie pie. I could just eat him up!
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BBZ has an obsession with Spiderman. It's super cute. He actually likes all of the Marvel superheros, but Spiderman seems to be his ultimate favorite. He'll call me a superhero name (usually Wasp) and I'm supposed to call him whatever superhero name he has given himself right then. It's so cute. He has 1 pair of Spiderman jammies that he wears almost every single night. He'll go a day without them because he understands that they need to be washed, but that's about it. I better have them washed or else!
We knew he wanted to be a superhero for Halloween, but he needed to narrow it down and choose just one, because once we bought the costume, he was not changing his mind. Of course, he chose Spiderman. Which is awesome because I found a costume in his size for $12 at Target...score!
At first he said that the costume was "a little weird" because of the puffy muscles, but then he liked it again. Now, he wears the mask from the costume with his jammies every night. I just love this little superhero so much!
Well, I know I'm forgetting something, but those are my updates for now. I hope all is well in everyone's little parts of the world!
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I am finally starting to feel better. I have been struck with illness after illness since my sweet LBZ was born, so this healthy feeling has been a long-time coming. I caught a virus from BBZ that turned into bronchitis that has been hanging on for about a month. I'm finally able to go a few hours without coughing my head off and my bruised rib is finally healing. Whew, that was a long sickness!
-----
I did end up going to the concert last week after all, and I am so glad I did. N's sister and her family came over to watch the boys and they both did just fine. The show was absolutely incredible. It was held in a newly remodled venue downtown that I hadn't been to before. The band hasn't been to our city in 4 years, so as I stood in this amazing place, looking around at so many strangers with familiar faces (the world for this type of music is very small) I felt the amazing energy of everyone being in the same place for the same party. There were a few thousand people there, but I felt like I knew everyone. The music was incredible, and I got to feel my most favorite emotion with regard to music...the minute or so between songs when you wonder what song they are going to play next. Is it the one song you hoped you'd hear this show? The one that brings back memories from my first show 10 years ago? Oh, the anticiaption. There is nothing in the world like it.
So needless to say, we had an incredible time. And both boys survived. I am so glad I went.
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LBZ could be competing for the worst sleeper on the planet. He still has his super fussy time, right at the end of my day when I want nothing but to crawl in bed and go to sleep. I am in the middle of a caffeine experiment. I had been allowing myself 1 caffeinated soda per day, like I did when I was pregnant, but I began to wonder if it was affecting LBZ more than I realized. I keep moving the time up...it was no later than 4pm, then no later than noon, this am I drank it first thing around 8am and will see if it changes things. His awake time yesterday was more around 5pm and he was asleep for the night at 9pm. So maybe this is it?? If it seems to help but isn't perfect, I think I will be giving up the caffeine all together. Sad, but worth it if my sweet boy sleeps. His longest stretch is 4.5 hours, which is usually the first one. He's up about every 1.5-3 hours after that. This mama is sleepy, but surviving.
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I am back into my jeans! The jeans that I wore first after BBZ was born anyway. My little-bit-bigger jeans, but whatever. They button and zip and don't have an elastic waist band, so I'm happy. It's so nice to be able to wear normal clothes. I have abotu 10 pounds to go to be where I was when I got pregnant, but I hope to lose another 5 since I put on about 5 the month or so before I got pregnant. I feel good and am happy that the pounds are just falling off the way they did with BBZ. Hooray for breastfeeding!
-----
Speaking of breastfeeding, it is going wonderfully! And LBZ is taking a bottle about every other day from daddy very well. I can't believe how much freedom him having that bottle gives me. I missed that with BBZ and didn't even realize it. I have been able to spend more with with BBZ and not have to worry about being gane a little longer since daddy can feed LBZ. It's awesome.
I went to a breastfeeding and parenting seminar hosted by our local LLL a few weekends ago and took LBZ with me. It was so great to be surrounded by like-minded nursing moms and be able to provide for LBZ whatever he needed whenever he needed it without worrying about covering up or being judged. It was great practice in confidence, which has carried over to outside the seminar. I am already much more confident about nursing in public that I was ith BBZ, and this just added to it. It was a great way to spend a Saturday.
-----
I cut all of my hair off! I was going back and forth about it, and when I went to my hairdresser and told her I couldn't decide, she told me to go for it, and I'm so glad she did! I've always had a wave to my hair, but this haircut made my hair straight-up curly! It's awesome because I can just scrunch some product in it and go, or straighten it for a sleeker look. I seriously love it and plan to keep it this length for a while. Somehting about this last pregnancy messed up my hair. It felt so unhealthy. It really needed to go. It was the best decision!
I'm sure that I have mentioned on here that BBZ stutters sometimes. He has stopped for the most part, which is a relief. He is starting to learn his letters, so now when we talk he'll start sounding out the first letter to a word and say what letter it is. It sounds so much like when he stuttered, but it's intentional. It is s-s-s-s-s-o cute!!
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LBZ has been smiling since 10/6/11. I need to write that in his baby book. Well, I finally caught it on camera!
Little cutie pie. I could just eat him up!
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BBZ has an obsession with Spiderman. It's super cute. He actually likes all of the Marvel superheros, but Spiderman seems to be his ultimate favorite. He'll call me a superhero name (usually Wasp) and I'm supposed to call him whatever superhero name he has given himself right then. It's so cute. He has 1 pair of Spiderman jammies that he wears almost every single night. He'll go a day without them because he understands that they need to be washed, but that's about it. I better have them washed or else!
We knew he wanted to be a superhero for Halloween, but he needed to narrow it down and choose just one, because once we bought the costume, he was not changing his mind. Of course, he chose Spiderman. Which is awesome because I found a costume in his size for $12 at Target...score!
At first he said that the costume was "a little weird" because of the puffy muscles, but then he liked it again. Now, he wears the mask from the costume with his jammies every night. I just love this little superhero so much!
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I can't believe it, but I only have 4.5 weeks of my maternity leave left. While I am sad to see this time come to an end, I feel much better baout my return to work than I did with BBZ. I'll miss my sweet littlest man like crazy, especially for those first couple of weeks back, but I am much for sure of my decision to be a working mom than I htink I have ever been. I know this is the right decision for our family and I know LBZ will like his school, hopefully as much as BBZ does. I hate the cost of it all, but love that they will be at the same place. I love the school and trust the system, which is so important. I'll post more about this another time.Well, I know I'm forgetting something, but those are my updates for now. I hope all is well in everyone's little parts of the world!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Little Brother Z is One Month Old!
Stats (added after 1-month appointment on 10.11.11)
10lbs, 4oz
21.5 inches long
(50th Percentile in all areas)
Holy cow, it's already been a month. Then again, I really can't remember life without you, my sweet littlest man. You are growing so much and changing everyday. You are a stinker about sleep and almost never go more than 3 hours without eating. I can't wait for your 1-month appointment tomorrow so I can see how much weight you have actually put on! None of your newborn clothes fit anymore, and your little rolls are too cute for words! All the milk is filling you out nicely.
This was a month of firsts...
You are not a fabulous sleeper, but I am getting used to it. A stretch longer than 3 hours would be nice, but I'll take what I can get. You have a terrible fussy time between 8pm and 10 or 11pm every night. I hope to go to a concert this Wednesday, but I think I might have to miss it because of your choice in fussy times. I wouldn't be able to stand knowing that you were screaming the way you do with no relief from me. I've seen this band over 50 times, so missing them for you would be totally worth it.
You have turned our lives upside down, and we couldn't be happier. You are sweet and laid back and I can't wait to see what is to come. I love you, sweet LBZ.
Love,
Mommy
10lbs, 4oz
21.5 inches long
(50th Percentile in all areas)
Holy cow, it's already been a month. Then again, I really can't remember life without you, my sweet littlest man. You are growing so much and changing everyday. You are a stinker about sleep and almost never go more than 3 hours without eating. I can't wait for your 1-month appointment tomorrow so I can see how much weight you have actually put on! None of your newborn clothes fit anymore, and your little rolls are too cute for words! All the milk is filling you out nicely.
This was a month of firsts...
Your first bath...
And of course your big brother had to help.
He washed your toes :)
You only cried a little...not anything like your brother who screamed the whole time. You seem to really love bath time. You did crash right afterwards though. Sleepy little sweetie pie :)
You met Auntie E for the first time...
And Papa for the first time, too.
And also Great Grandma H and Great Grandpa J
You have some baby acne, but it is fading fast.
I really have to keep up with your nails because they grow so fast! When I can't get to them fast enough, you wear the same spider man socks on your hands that BBZ did. They are awesome.
This was the first time you fell asleep all on your own too! It may have also been the last :)
And you had your first bottle. I was so nervous about this, but you did great! I had all kinds of mixed feelings about it. You see, I love being the only one who provides my milk for you. That fact prevented me from introducing a bottle to your brother until he was 3 months old. It made for a really hard transition. As much as I would like to be the only one to provide for you, you having a bottle eventually is inevitable, so we introduced it now to make it easier on you. You did great!
BBZ had to help too. He just loves helping you and talking to you. He always says the same thing "don't worry, little brother, everything is going to be alright". Just like in Three Little Birds. You boys are so precious!
You are not a fabulous sleeper, but I am getting used to it. A stretch longer than 3 hours would be nice, but I'll take what I can get. You have a terrible fussy time between 8pm and 10 or 11pm every night. I hope to go to a concert this Wednesday, but I think I might have to miss it because of your choice in fussy times. I wouldn't be able to stand knowing that you were screaming the way you do with no relief from me. I've seen this band over 50 times, so missing them for you would be totally worth it.
You have turned our lives upside down, and we couldn't be happier. You are sweet and laid back and I can't wait to see what is to come. I love you, sweet LBZ.
Love,
Mommy
Monday, October 3, 2011
Lots of 3s
3 Weeks Old
3 Years Old
A 3-Day Weekend
With just the 3 of us!!
I was so nervous about being alone with the boys this weekend, but everything went great! N left early Friday morning and our adventure began. N's sister came over and brought us lunch on Friday, which was really nice. She also played outside with BBZ for a while so he could run around a bit. I finally got him to nap afterwards then we went to our favorite resale shop. It was a nice afternoon.
The hardest part of the whole weekend was night time. We are a very attached household and I prefer to provide my children with whatever they need at night. I don't do sleep training and usually lay down with BBZ until he drifts off to sleep. It has proven to be much more difficult to provide for BBZ at night since LBZ came along.
It seems that LBZ needs me at exactly the same time BBZ is going to bed. It never fails. As soon as BBZ and I are cuddling, LBZ starts fussing and is soon in full-blown freak out mode. I nursed LBZ in bed with BBZ, which worked for a minute, but BBZ was much too distracted with his sweet baby brother to go to sleep with us in there. So I said to BBZ "do not leave this bed, I will be back in a minute". I left and settled LBZ down and went back in. Proud as he could be, BBZ exclaimed "mommy, I did not leave this bed!". I sure was proud of him.
I was even more proud because when I had to leave yet again because LBZ was fussing, but the time I went back in there BBZ was asleep. He had fallen asleep on his own for the first time ever. I was so proud! He did the same thing Saturday night, except I made it back in just as he was drifting off. He said again to me "mommy, I did not leave this bed!", and off to sleep he went. Sweet boy.
LBZ is eating every 3 hours like clockwork again and a little more often during the day. 9pm-12am still seems to be a hard time for him, but he's doing ok. Daytime was ok as we could all play and hang out together just fine, as long as LBZ wasn't nursing.
On Saturday, N's sister and family picked BBZ up for a few hours in the morning and took him to a cool park and out to lunch. It was so nice for him to hang with them and have some time to run around. Our brother-in-law took some amazing photos of him while there.
Saturday afternoon was really fun. We just hung around the house, but watching BBZ invent things to play was so much fun. He wanted to to leave the room and when I game back I saw this...
As I walked into the room he yelled "Surprise!!!" Apparently, it was my birthday and all of these cushions were my birthday presents. I had to tear open each one and yell out what they were. I got a princess dress and some Lego's and a new watch. Then, it was his turn. I had to set up the presents and yell surprise. It was so fun!
On Sunday we had a quiet morning and anxiously waited for N to get home. We snuggled and played and napped and before we knew it, it was 4pm and N was finally home. What a long weekend!
It was hard, but definitely precious time that I had to spend with my boys. We are all figuring out our new routines and just when we get something set, I'm sure it will change. Going more than 3 hours at night would be nice, but having done this before I know it won't last forever.
I hope everyone had a nice weekend!
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