Overcommitted

You may have noticed my lack of posts the past few days.  This is because I have *totally* overcommitted myself this week and am going crazy as a result.  It is also hilarious how much my definition of "overcommitted" has changed since Charlie arrived.  This is my week:

Monday: Infant Massage class
Tuesday:  Cook for Supper Club I stupidly agreed to co-host (thankfully not at my house!)
Wednesday: Yoga class, lunch with yoga mommies, aforementioned Supper Club party
Thursday: Get ready for trip to California, dinner with friends
Friday:  Leaver very early in the morning for airport!

Clearly this does not look like a ton of stuff to do, but funny how everything takes so much longer with an infant in tow.  Luckily, and as I've mentioned before, we have awesome family!  My parents spent last week running around getting things for Charlie so I don't have to pack a bunch of gear for CA.  They got an infant car set base installed in their car and have diapers and a Snuggle Nest, among other things, waiting for us.  Cody's mom came down last week for her Grandparent class (basically about what has changed safety/recommendation-wise in the past 20 years!) and then totally rearranged her schedule to stay until today so that she could help me with all our stuff going on.  Let me tell you, we needed the help!

I made two crockpot batches of white chicken chili for the supper club easily and successfully, but I also volunteered to make cake pops for dessert, which were an unmitigated disaster (if you clicked on the cake pops link, please note that mine are not nearly as cute as Bakerella's - I just did plain red velvet with chocolate and double chocolate.  But my goal is to get good enough to do the cute holiday versions - I did chicks for Easter, they were cute, but too sweet.  The chocolate is much better!).  I ruined multiple batches of dipping chocolate somehow.  And I have made these things before! I don't know what went wrong, but I was dipping cake pops about an hour before the party started, when I had started them 2 days before.  Luckily Linda was there to help or we would have had Publix cupcakes for dessert instead. Supper Club was a success, but I am exhausted!

Today has been more low-key, luckily.  Linda kindly stayed this morning to watch Charlie so I could get my hideous nails taken care of before our trip, and then I have spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and getting us packed up while Charlie has alternately been held/entertained by Auntie Em and spent time snoozing in his swing.  I think we are ready for our trip!  I have no good pictures to post from the week, but I will try to update from California with pics from Charlie's welcome party.  He is going to meet a ton of friends and family this weekend, I am so excited.  The party is on Saturday and then on Sunday we are going to visit my grandmas.  My great grandma is 97 - we are so lucky that we will have 5 generations together this weekend!

Just wanted to give a quick update, now I must get ready for dinner.  Anthony and Stephanie are finally home from Europe, so tonight we are having dinner with them and the Crabbes.  Aaron was born and Charlie has practically doubled in size since they left, so it will be a fun reunion!

Infant Massage Graduate

Today we woke up and went for another three mile walk with Amy and Jackson - we'll see if the toning shoes have the same effect as they did last week!  Then it was off to Infant Massage.  Today was our last class and the instructor encouraged us to bring guests and a camera.  Luckily for us, Grandma Linda is still in town, so she accompanied us to class.  Charlie is usually the calmest, easiest baby in class, but today he was in a cranky mood toward the end.  I didn't time his feedings as well as I usually do, so I think he just got hungry and all worked up about it by the time I was situated to feed him.  One of the girls in my class, who is also in my yoga class, commented "I've never seen Charlie cry!"  Luckily he was consoled after eating.

Here are some pictures of us massaging.  We really enjoyed the class and I plan to keep doing massage with Charlie at home.  He really seems to like it and I love it as a bonding activity.  In class, we talked about involving husbands in massage and our instructor suggested teaching them the arm and leg exercises we've learned, so I think I will teach those to Cody this week.  Here we are in class!

Weekend Fun

We had big plans to go to the Inman Park Festival on Saturday, but thunderstorms and a torrential downpour made us scratch that idea!  Instead, we decided to venture up to the North Georgia outlet mall.  I have no clothes that fit me, and I wanted to check out the Baby Gap outlet for Charlie.  I ended up getting some cute tank tops at the J.Crew outlet (um, anyone else noticed that J.Crew prices have increased a TON recently? I will only buy stuff at their outlet at this point...) and some summer clothes for Charlie at Baby Gap.  We had a pretty low key night - ate dinner at Los Bravos and watched the Predators lose their NHL playoff game.

We woke up Sunday morning and set out for the festival, given the forecast for lovely weather.  Of course I had to take the opportunity to dress Charlie in a cute Spring outfit, including sun hat.  Cody, Grandma Linda, Charlie and I headed down to Inman Park shortly after 10am to get there before the crowds and the heat.

Luckily, we found a good parking spot a short stroller ride from the festival.  The weather was lovely and there were a million babies there.  Approximately half of them had the exact same stroller as Charlie!  We exchanged many "Nice stroller!" comments with other parents of babies.  Charlie was overall very content, but he did get a little tired of being strolled, so I carried him for some of the time.

We also met up with Auntie Emily and Uncle Chris.  Chris and enjoyed the festival-standard frozen lemonade, while Emily went a little unconventional with the SpongeBob ice cream.

We only planned to stay at the festival for an hour or two, and that is what we did.  After meandering around for a while Charlie needed to eat, so I managed to nurse him in public, standing up in a nice shady area.  Obviously I am getting more comfortable with the idea of feeding him in public.  I just used my nursing cover and all was fine.  Unsurprisingly, by the time we got ready to leave, Charlie was tuckered out!

We ate lunch at Jo's Grill in Chamblee and then came home to do our normal Sunday routine of laundry and things around the house.  I cooked dinner and we got ready to start another week!  In baby news, we have started to have Charlie go to sleep unswaddled at night.  He looks so cute in his little sleep sack!

Junebug likes to check on him before bed!

Babies x3

Today I woke up with Charlie at 6am (thank you baby for sleeping through the night!), but didn't really get to go back to sleep because I needed to take our other baby to the vet.  Junebug hasn't been herself lately - she has not been wanting to jump in and out of my car, has been running less, and refuses to go to doggy daycare on Tuesdays. For whatever weird dog reason she will still consent to go on Fridays, but when Cody tries to rally her to go on Tuesdays she runs into the bedroom and jumps into the bed with me and Charlie.  I guess we are more fun than doggy daycare!

So I dropped Junebug off at 7:30 for hip x-rays, just to rule out hip dysplasia, since it is so common in golden retrievers.  She has always had a funny gait, and her unusual behavior made me worry that she is in some mild pain.  Fortunately, her x-rays were perfect and the vet determined that she has full range of motion in both hips and knees and no signs of dysplasia.  Yay! 

Of course, those results were great, but didn't really help us in determining what is up with the pup.  She has gained 5 lbs. since her last annual vet visit in October, so our vet told us that some dogs are just super sensitive to weight gain and that the extra weight might be making her joints sore.  She is 68 lbs., so not fat for a golden, but maybe a few pounds heavier than ideal.  We are going to reduce her food by 10-20% and start her on a good joint supplement and hopefully that helps.  The vet also said it could just be that all the puppy-ness is finally out of her and she just doesn't have that crazy puppy energy anymore, which is fine.  We'll see what happens with the new diet and supps.

After hanging out with Charlie and Grandma Linda in the morning, I packed Charlie up and met Melissa and Aaron, Camille and Owen at the Silver Comet Trail for a walk.  We walked a couple miles and then headed to Muss & Turner's for lunch with the babies.  They are all so cute!  I can't wait until they are all sitting up, playing and interacting with one another.  In the meantime, Owen and Aaron did a lot of sleeping, while old man Charlie spent most of lunch awake and studying the world around him. 

 Hanging out at Muss & Turner's

 Babies on a bench!

It is so amazing how many changes these babies go through every single day.  Owen and Aaron are only about a month younger than Charlie, but those sleepy babies reminded me how Charlie has spent more and more time awake every day.  It's also funny how at this age, a few weeks seems like a notable difference in age - by the time they are toddling around they will all seem the same age, after all, they were all born in a six week period.

We came home and I was able to shower and blow dry my hair while Charlie played with his grandma.  We all went for an early dinner and out to ice cream.  Now we're once again watching the NFL draft and about to get Charlie to bed.  Looking forward to the weekend, even though it is supposed to rain!

Happy Earth Day!

Today we decided to celebrate Earth Day (and the fact that Cody didn't have any meetings during lunch) by meeting Daddy for lunch at work.

We introduced the little man to Cody's boss and several others, and Charlie was a real charmer.  All smiles and laughs, flirting with all the ladies non-stop.  Then, exhausted from all the socializing, the little dude fell asleep as we ate and stayed that way until after I made a return (and a purchase!) at DSW.  He did have an unexplained crying meltdown in the car as we approached home, but he recovered.  I think maybe he got a little warm in his car seat - it got hot today!

Soon after we arrived home, Grandma Linda got there.  We hung out with Charlie for a bit and then took a little trip to the mall.  I had had my eye on a dress to wear to a friend's wedding in May, and when I realized it sold out in my size online, I called all the Atlanta department stores until I found it in stock.  So we went to try it on, and luckily it fit perfectly. Between the super formal wedding and our trip to Hawaii in May...let's just say that formal wear and swim wear are not exactly what a woman wants to shop for 2 months after giving birth!  So I am good on the dress, still searching on the swim front.

In addition to it being Earth Day, it is also Draft Day today!  Cody watches the draft every year and was excited to introduce Charlie to the NFL.  Charlie was excited too.

The Titans ended up drafting a defensive player from Georgia Tech, which is pretty cool. Happy Earth Day and Happy Draft Day everyone!

Walking Recovery

Yesterday was a gray, rainy day, so Charlie and I spent the morning reading and snoozing off and on in the bed.  When we got up to meet Camille and Owen, Charlie was so sleepy that I just left him in his pajamas for our outing.  I thought for sure he would fall asleep in the car on the way to Babies R Us, but alas, he fussed most of the way there and was full on crying by the time we arrived.  It was raining and I parked in the smallest parking space ever, so I couldn't maneuver him into the Ergo and just brought him in the Snap N Go stroller, which he was NOT a fan of.  So we spent our first few minutes at the store in calming down mode.  Luckily a little cuddle was all he needed before going back to his stroller and falling asleep.

We had decided to meet at BRU for the baby clothes sale they were having.  I got some cute onesies for Charlie and a couple of little outfits.  After shopping, Camille and I decided to go through the Chick Fil A drivethru  for some lunch to eat at our house.  Once we got there, we ate, fed, entertained and diapered the babes off and on while chatting and hanging out.  Aside from Camille just being my friend who I like to hang out with, it is just so nice to hang out with other new moms.  No need to explain or apologize for all the baby care interruptions that are bound to occur about a million times!

After Camille left, I packed Charlie up to go visit Auntie Emily, where we did more hanging out with the babe.  He loves to cuddle his auntie and sleep on her belly, so cute!  We came home for dinner, showers and bedtime!  I was hoping for a repeat of the 9 hours straight that Charlie slept on Monday night, but got our more normal 6 instead.  That's okay though, he went right back to sleep, woke up to eat again at 7 this morning and then back to sleep again until 9. I'm typing this as Charlie is taking his morning nap snuggled up to me in the moby wrap.

On a totally separate note, and as the title of this post indicates, I am in recovery from my walk with Amy on Monday.  As I've written about here before, I walk a ton, probably about to 15 miles a week, so the 3 mile jaunt with Amy is normally not a problem for me.  Well....I bought these dorky shoes.  Reebok EasyTones - they supposedly tone your legs and butt while you walk.  I had read some good reviews of them, and Emily has the Sketchers toning shoes and said they seemed to really work.  I figured, why not?  I walk so much anyway, why not get a little extra toning? All I have to say is ouch!  They totally work, my butt and leg muscles are killing me and I definitely feel like I did a bunch of toning exercises in addition to walking.  I'm leaving for yoga in about 30 minutes and hope I am able to do the moves!

Start of Another Week

We had a quiet Sunday yesterday and it was very nice to relax.  We woke up and went to J. Christopher's for breakfast and made an unsuccessful trip to Babies R Us to see if they had this cool contraption we want to get for Charlie, who is loving kicking lately (they didn't).  After we came home and I fed Charlie, Cody took him to Lowe's to get some WD-40 for all our creaky doors and to give me some time to rest.  The rest of the day we pretty much just hung out around the house, watched the Braves, did laundry and entertained the baby.  Oh and we went for a walk of course.  I ran out in the afternoon to get some new walking shoes while Cody stayed and watched Junebug and Charlie.  They gave him a lot of trouble, as you can see.

Charlie keeps growing and learning every day.  He has just managed to figure out how to suck his thumb without the rest of the hand going into his mouth as well.   His head control is getting better by the day and he is definitely becoming more verbal, cooing and letting his voice be heard.  This also means he is letting his voice be heard when he is trying to communicate displeasure.  He will yell out if he wants to get our attention and he is showing very little patience when it comes to getting his milk fix.  Once he gives me his hungry cues, if I don't rush fast enough to start feeding him, he will let out a wail!

Today we went on a three mile walk with Amy and Jackson and then to Infant Massage class.  We learned how to do a quick full body massage and some techniques for back massage during tummy time.  Charlie enjoyed himself so much he fell asleep, just like his mommy tends to do during massages.

 

After class, we stopped home to make a grocery list and headed to Publix.  This was the first full grocery shop I tried with Charlie, so I strapped him into our Ergo baby carrier and wore him around the store.  It worked out quite well - Charlie napped almost the whole time and quietly looked out at the world the rest of the time.  We bought all the dinner ingredients we need for the week, plus some snacks.  Tonight I made yellow curry chicken, tomorrow we have dinner from our neighbor, Wednesday I plan to make marinated skirt steak with sweet potatoes and broccoli and on Thursday Cody is in charge, so I bough ingredients for his famous cheese tortellini with meat sauce that about put me into labor the last time he made it. Yum!  Once the weekend comes, we tend to eat out at casual neighborhood places, so no dinners planned.

This evening, I was cooking dinner and tending to a fussy Charlie while Junebug was digging a hole in the backyard.  She was covered in mud and had to be quarantined in the bathroom until Cody got home to help - what a pain.  Now we are watching Treme, the new series about post-Katrina New Orleans on HBO, and hanging out til bedtime.  We have an exciting week planned, with yoga and plans to hang out with Camille, Melissa and hopefully a trip to Daddy's office for lunch at the end of the week.  We also need to go visit Auntie Em to give her a happy little study break as she studies for her law school exams.  Grandma Linda is coming to visit on Thursday and we are hoping to get to the Inman Park Festival this weekend.  Big week!

Big Day!

Charlie woke up this morning happy and smiley, thoroughly recovered from the whole vaccination ordeal.  After Charlie's 8am feeding, Cody had to run to the office to print some things out for a project he needs to work on this weekend, so he decided to take Charlie with him.  While the boys were at work, I decided the girls would try to run together.  I got dressed and got Junebug leashed up, and off we went.

Unfortunately, Junebug was not really in a running mood.  I can't blame her, as I was not really in a running mood myself (never am!), however, she decided to dig her heels in and stop every time I tried to run.  We walked to warm up and she was fine, but as soon as I picked up the pace, she was not into it.  I kept trying, but no go.  We were about 10 minutes from the house, so I turned around and took her home.  Running take two went marginally better, but not great. I ran a little over a mile, and walked a little under a mile.

Cody and Charlie drove by me as I was running back home and we all got home around the same time.  I got in the shower, and once I was done, Cody brought Charlie to me for his shower!  The instructor of our infant massage class is also a children's swim instructor, and she highly recommended bringing babies into the shower from infancy.  She said that babies who become acclimated to water on their face at a young age have no problem putting their heads under water when the time for swim lessons comes.  Made sense to me, so I figured we'd try it.  Normally I like really hot showers, but since I was hot from running, the temperature was perfect for Charlie to try out a shower.  The teacher warned that babies usually cry the first time, but Charlie loved the shower right away.  He didn't mind water on his head or face, and he seemed to really enjoy it!

Then we all finished getting ready for our day with David, Melissa and Aaron.  They met us at our house and we went to downtown Chamblee for lunch at the Chamblee Bistro and ice cream from the Frosty Caboose.  Both were yummy and the babies slept through the whole thing.  I forgot my camera, but Melissa had hers, so hopefully I will add a picture once I get it from her.

David was playing in the Oglethorpe alumni soccer tournament at 2pm, so we came back to our house, fed the babies and then headed over to Oglethorpe.  A bunch of Cody's fraternity brothers played soccer at Oglethorpe, so they formed a team for the tournament and we watched.  The weather was lovely, and it was so nice to spend the day outside.  A bunch of the other wives and girlfriends came to watch, so we had a little cheering section.

Jodi and Olivia were there to watch James, and Charlie just *loved* Olivia.  When she got close to him, he would smile and laugh so much.  So cute!  Olivia's little brother is scheduled to arrive in about 6 weeks, you can tell she will be such a great big sister.

Now we are home from the tournament and just relaxing.  We thought we might go to the Braves game tonight, but it looks like it might rain and we already had a lot of activity for Charlie today.  What a nice Saturday!

Two Months Old!

Charlie is two months old today!  We started the day with a 3.5 mile walk to Starbucks and back. Charlie slept the whole time, but I about passed out from the hilly route and the heat.  We left at 10am and it was gorgeous out, but by the time we got home at 11:15, the sun and pollen were in full force.  We ate, napped and played our way through the early afternoon, also squeezing in our 2 month portraits.

"I'm a pretty cute two month old!"

 "I can do neat two month old things, like blow bubbles..."

"And stick my entire fist in my mouth!"

After photos, it was off to the dreaded doctor's appointment.  Our appointment was for 3:30pm, but we were not seen until 4:30 - very frustrating!  Especially since I tried to feed Charlie at the perfect time so that he wouldn't get hungry during the appointment or in the car on the way home.  Instead, I ended up feeding him just as the doctor came in instead of just as we arrived at home.  I try to be understanding, because I know it is impossible for the office to predict how long each appointment will take and that some day it could be Charlie that needs a little extra attention at an appointment.  But still, it was frustrating.

Anyway, first they did all of Charlie's measurements.  He weighed 11lbs., 11oz., which put him in the 54th percentile for weight.  Then they measured his length and told us he was 25 inches!  The nurse left the room and evidently learned that 25 inches is off the charts tall for a two month old, so she came back and measured again.  This time I noticed that Charlie's leg was a little bent, and the measurement was 24.25 inches.  I think his real length is probably somewhere in between those two measurements, but he was officially measured at 24.25 inches, which is the 92nd percentile.  Tall baby!  His head circumference was 40.5 centimeters, which is 66th percentile (I had a feeling his head was rather large!).

They asked all the standard questions (how often/long he feeds, how much he sleeps, where he sleeps, etc.), and then asked about the 2 month milestones he should be able to do - opening his hands, lifting his head, smiling, and tracking with his eyes.  He does all four of those things, so all was good on that front.  Finally the doctor came in and told us Charlie seemed to be doing great at growing, which is the main thing they are looking for.  He did a physical exam and everything checked out perfectly.  I asked a bunch of questions about sunscreen, swimming, bug spray, air travel and all that fun summer stuff.  We discussed the vaccinations Charlie would be receiving, and our pediatrician was very good about making us feel comfortable with what he was about to get.

After giving Charlie a clean bill of health, the doctor was gone and in came the nurse.  She had the vaccinations ready to go and asked me to hold Charlie's hands.  I got down close to his face and gave him kisses while Cody stood by with the paci. After the first needle went in, Charlie just looked confused and like he was thinking about crying.  When the second needle went in, he realized it wasn't his imagination and let out the biggest cry he has ever cried.  His face got all red and he looked really pissed off! While I was busy comforting, Cody was busy documenting with his blackberry.

In an instant, the nurse was done and 30 seconds later he was calmly sucking on his paci in my arms like nothing had ever happened. I didn't even cry!  He did so great and was snoozing practically before we got to the car.

Charlie is calm and collected as we leave the doctor's office.

Tonight he has been a little fussier than normal, but all around pretty good.  I learned some techniques for his sore thighs in my infant massage class, so I will try those out tomorrow and hopefully the soreness will go away soon.  Happy to say we survived this first round of shots and are no worse for the wear.  And now I won't have to worry about him contracting polio on the airplane ride to California in two weeks.  Okay, I wasn't really worried about that before, but y'all get what I mean.

Happy two months to Charlie! They've been the best two months of our lives and we love being your parents!

Injection Anxiety

Tomorrow, Charlie will be two months old and, appropriately, he will have his two month doctor appointment.  As I've mentioned before, this is the needle appointment.  He's getting four shots! As you might expect if you know me and my researching ways, I've done a lot of research on childhood vaccinations.  And I can't find any compelling reason not to have them done on the schedule that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends.  I think all parents need to make the decision they feel is best for their child when it comes to these types of issues.  In the particular case of vaccinations, though, I also feel strongly that it is a public health issue.

So, when I say I'm anxious about tomorrow, I mean I am anxious about the actual injections and the potential reaction he may have to them.  I know it will hurt him and I know it will be totally normal if he is cranky, fussy, sleepy and generally ill-mannered following the shots.  And I am just not looking forward to that!  I want to be there for him, and to hold him and comfort him - but I can't help but worry that he will be looking at me and thinking "Mommy, why are you letting them hurt me?"  It's silly, I know - the brief upset is certainly better than having him contract pertussis or meningitis.  But I think it is just natural mommy concern.  I don't want him to hurt!

It's interesting how his development and the development of our bond have changed my emotions over the past several weeks.  I watched his circumcision and didn't flinch.  I saw him get his Hep B vaccination when he was 3 days old and it didn't bother me at all.  He was just a little lump of a newborn then and emotion didn't really register on his face.  I also feel like we have such a stronger bond now - he trusts me to take care of him!  Now tomorrow I know he will actually look upset and that he has some sense that I am the one who is supposed to protect him. Poor little guy.  Ever since we scheduled the appointment a month ago, I knew Cody had a meeting and wouldn't be able to go.  I was okay with that until Tuesday, when I called and rescheduled it for a time Cody could make.  I might need the moral support!

These photographs are totally unrelated to vaccinations (who would want to see related photos?), but they don't really "go" with any particular post, so figured I would put them here!

Cody, Junebug and Charlie chillin' on the couch.

Visiting with Auntie Em.

The Strawberry-Rhubarb crisp, just to prove I really made it.

Productive Day

So yesterday, while Charlie napped, I really did make a pie.  Actually, if we're being technical, it was a crisp.  I bought pie crust at the store, but then thought a crisp sounded better. Amazingly I had all the necessary ingredients for the crisp topping, I guess I am really a mom, with actual baking supplies stocked in my kitchen!  It was a strawberry-rhubarb crisp, perfect for Spring.  I also made a spinach salad with grilled chicken and warm balsamic vinaigrette dressing - yum!  See what can be accomplished when the baby naps someplace other than on top of me? (I am writing this post as he is sprawled across my belly for his morning nap).

After dinner, we took Junebug and Charlie out for some fresh air.  I was still a little freaked out about the potential armed robber on the loose, so I didn't want to run by myself.  Instead Cody and I walked a mile from our house and then I ran the mile back home while he walked with Charlie in the carrier.  I run slow enough and he walks fast enough that I figured we would be close enough for him to see me and/or hear me yell.  All of this was a ridiculous precaution, as our neighborhood was teeming with dog walkers, runners, people playing tennis and basketball at the park we walk by and neighbors just outside enjoying the beautiful evening.  I ran a ten minute mile, which is quite fast for me!  It was great to run in the evening and not worry about getting sunburned!

When we got home we watched Modern Family, ate some of the crisp and started the bedtime routine. Charlie was bathed, fed and in bed sleeping at 10:30pm, where he slept until.....6:20am!  Then he ate and went right back to sleep until 8:30 this morning.  He was up for a while reading and playing, and then down for his morning nap at 9:45.  He's just now waking up and we are going to get dressed and go visit daddy at work!

Crib Nap Forfeit

Charlie and I had post-partum yoga class today, which was great. Charlie was a zen little yogi as usual and I got to do pretty much the entire class without having to tend to him.  Also as usual, he fell asleep at the end of class, so I decided we would stop at the grocery store while he slept.  Now we are home, and I *could* transfer my sleeping baby from car seat to crib for the sake of consistency.  But I won't.  I'm new at this, but I'm not stupid!

I don't have to be glued to the baby monitor, so instead of watching that while he sleeps, I'm going to set him down in the kitchen, cook dinner and make a pie.  Seriously.

Night Time Sleep Update: Charlie slept 10:30pm-4:30am.  He is pretty consistent these days.  I am going to stop with these updates because they are boring.  I think this 6 hour stretch is going to be our definition of "sleeping through the night."  He goes back to sleep until around 7 or 7:30, so it works for me!

Accountability: Did not run yesterday.  Was going to, but then got email from Chamblee PD that some dude with a handgun had just broken into an occupied house in an adjacent neighborhood and was on the loose.  I promise, that is not made up.

Crib Nap Success for Baby Houdini

We tried the crib napping again today.  I put the little guy down at 2:55pm again.  He had managed to wriggle out of his swaddle and spit out his paci by 3:05pm....again.  I reswaddled and gave him the paci back...again.  This time I swaddled like I meant it.  He tried to wriggle out, but soon...

I crept downstairs and cleaned the house, did laundry and wrote thank you notes changed out of my pajamas.  Charlie then proceeded to stay in his crib for an hour and forty minutes!  He slept the vast majority of the time, but I did see him wake up on the monitor twice.  I was so proud when he put himself back to sleep both times - without the paci!  At 4:45 I noticed that he seemed to be awake for good.  And by the time I made it upstairs, the little Houdini looked like this...

I think I am not good at swaddling?  At least he has not broken free of the Halo Sleep Sack and Swaddle we use at night.  Anyway, it was a great nap.  If he keeps it up I am going to have to find a way to be productive during that time.  Too bad it is taboo to leave the baby alone in the house, I could totally use that time to run. Or get a pedicure!  Hopefully this is the start of a good napping trend!

Eight Week Photo Shoot

"Seriously Mom, not this again. If you insist on doing photo shoots, I am going to insist on spitting up."


"Or better yet, I will kick you!"


"Just kidding, legs too short, back to Plan A."


"You know I'm cute..."



"Yes, finally, can't a man just lie on his tummy?"


"I just want to giggle and smush my head into the blanket, k thanks."

Charlie is 8 weeks old today! Let's see, not that much has happened since my 6 week update. He can still do all those things (I guess no regression is a start) - he just does them more reliably, more frequently and more vigorously now. His grasping skills have really improved, as he has started that lovely and dangerous thing that all children do - grabbing onto things and immediately trying to put them in his mouth. Guess we can't let him play with poison anymore.

Let's see,what other milestones...he's drooling a lot? He's pooping less (score!). He is starting to take more regular naps. By regular I mean a long one in the morning and a long one in the afternoon, not necessarily at the same time, and definitely not always in the same place. His bottle skills are improving - he no longer sounds like he is being tortured into taking his bottle from Cody while I pump. I left him with my sister while I was at an Atlanta Children's Shelter board meeting last week and she was like, "Um, does he always sound like he is gasping his final breath when he takes a bottle?" Yeah he did, but it's starting to get better.

He is holding his head up for longer periods of time. He's giggling up a storm. He finally noticed that we have a large dog. And that the large dog is hilarious! Trying desperately to get video of this. As of last night he weighed 11 pounds, 10 ounces on our baby scale. He is tracking objects with both eyes (yes, I learned that is a "milestone" from my weekly BabyCenter email). He seems to be actually paying attention when we read to him - for about 60 seconds.

Generally he's still a beautiful, charming, easy baby! He cried for about 5 straight minutes in the car again this week and it was the longest I have ever heard him cry. He was just hungry and this time I remedied the situation in a dry cleaners parking lot (love tinted windows). Once I write this I know he will turn into a huge crybaby, but Cody and I think there must be some force of silence in our house. Junebug is a golden retriever that does not bark. Charlie is a baby that does not cry. I don't know what it is, apparently we only communicate via body language and the spoken word in this house. Which is good, since Cody and I don't speak Dog or Baby - works out nicely!

That's about all for 8 weeks. It is hard to believe that 8 weeks ago we were in the hospital and Charlie was 2 hours old. He's grown so much and it really is hard to imagine life before he got here. We go for his 2 month well baby visit on Friday, I think I will post more about that tomorrow. Happy 8 weeks Charlie!

Belly Sleeping

So as you know, I have been trying to remedy the fact that Charlie typically will only take a nice long nap while lying on top of me or Cody (or some other visiting relative). I guess I just needed to open my eyes to realize that when Charlie sleeps on us, he is sleeping on his belly. Or occasionally on his side. When we put him down to sleep we put him on his back, as recommended by just about any and every medical professional out there as a SIDS prevention tool.

I guess he, like most babies, is just more comfy on his belly. Too bad I only feel comfortable letting him sleep that way on one of us, while we are wide awake. I'm going to keep trying to make him comfortable enough to nap on his back, but I feel better that I at least think I know why he will only nap that way. I also feel better knowing that eventually he will be able to flip himself over onto his belly and at that point he will hopefully be comfortable and past the point of worrying about SIDS.

So for now we will keep trying to get him comfy enough to nap on his back. Obviously he has learned to sleep on his back at night, so I think if we apply the same consistency to napping as we have to night sleeping, he will hopefully get used to it.

Night Sleep Update: We were late getting Charlie to bed last night, which resulted in him sleeping from 11pm - 4am. I think 10-10:30pm has really emerged as his natural bedtime for the time being. When we put him down earlier or later he seems to get less of a stretch.

Accountability: Didn't run yesterday morning or this morning (shocking!). Did walk two miles last night and am planning to run this evening when it cools down.

Spring is here!

The weather in Atlanta has been beautiful the past few days. After some serious heat and pollen, and then a rain storm, the mild sunny days Friday, Saturday, Sunday and today have been wonderful. Here is what Spring means in the Partin household so far:

Braves Baseball

We've watched the Braves take on the Cubs and the Giants with mixed results. Fun to watch rookie Jason Heyward start with such a bang! We hope to get to our first game when the Braves are back in town this weekend, after Charlie gets his vaccinations (a whole other much less fun post to come on that topic)


We took these on Opening Day, which was April 5, just now getting around to posting!

Lots of Walking - Junebug loves Spring!

We've walked pretty much every day the past couple weeks. Junebug is loving life and even refused to go to doggy daycare the other day. She was tuckered out from all the exercise she has been getting at home!


"Did somebody say the "W" word?!?!?"

Naked Naps

We went from long-sleeved footed sleepers for around the house to diapers and onesies practically overnight! Our family room is cold when it's cold and hot when it's hot (Cody is currently researching HVAC options to remedy this), regardless of our thermostat settings. Turns out Charlie likes hanging out in as little clothing as possible!


"So warm all I need is a diaper and I can snooze comfortably on Daddy!"

Weekend Recap

Friday Night - Packed up Charlie and met up with some friends at Taqueria Del Sol to celebrate Hetal's (2 day) return to the ATL. Got kicked out of my seat at the bar because I was wearing Charlie in the Moby Wrap (duh! no babies at the bar).** Had an overall great time seeing some folks we hadn't seen in a while and soaking up a whole bunch of compliments on my sweet little man (I mean Charlie, but people were happy to see Cody too!). Kept Charlie in the Moby comfortably and peacefully the entire time. Successful outing!

Saturday - Breakfast with Bob and Amy at J. Christopher's, a few errands, straightened up the house, got out for a run, watched Cody watch the Masters, dinner at Mellow Mushroom with Emily and Chris.

Sunday - Breakfast with Cody and Charlie at J. Christopher's (again!), laundry, house straightening, running, walking, Masters, general weekend lounging.

Nice to have such a relaxing and largely unscheduled weekend!

** For my out of town readers - Taqueria Del Sol is a large, bright, casual, non-smoking, extremely family friendly restaurant that is full of little ones every night. It also happens to have a bar. I didn't take the baby to a bar!

Crib Nap Fail!

Over the (beautiful, gorgeous, sunny) weekend, I decided to go get some new swaddling blankets for Charlie. All the ones we had were too tiny to contain my growing boy, and Aden and Anais muslin swaddling blankets had been highly recommend to me by a few people. I had not been swaddling Charlie for naps, a) because the blankets were too small, and b) because I had the misguided notion that it would be easier to give up swaddling later on if we only did it at night. But it has since occurred to me that maybe the reason Charlie would only nap on me, but sleeps very well in his co-sleeper at night, is because he needs the security of either someone's arms or the swaddle. Duh, right?

And wouldn't you know...I swaddled Charlie up on Saturday and he slept for 2 hours in his pack n play. Cody gave me this look like "Oh so the baby will really only sleep on you and not when you put him down?" Tried it again on Sunday and he slept for maybe 30 minutes and the rest of his nap time took place on Cody's chest, so I was vindicated. But I still thought the swaddling helped, so today I decided Charlie would take his morning nap snuggled up with me as usual, but then the afternoon nap was going to happen in his crib. Here's how it went down:

2:55pm - Swaddle baby, give him the paci and set him down awake in the crib.



3:00pm - Watch on monitor as Charlie wiggles and wriggles trying to get out of the swaddle.

3:05pm - Watch Charlie successfully break free of the swaddle and spit out his paci. Hope fervently that he would just fall asleep anyway.



3:10pm - Hahaha, watch on monitor as Charlie does not fall asleep, but instead starts to complain and fuss. Go upstairs, reswaddle and put paci back in.

3:15pm - Think about cleaning up, washing dishes, doing the 30 Day Shred video, napping, and cleaning out my closet. Instead just sit there and watch the baby monitor while Charlie stares at the ceiling. Watch Brothers and Sisters: The Movie Event on tivo with one eye.



3:25pm - Notice that Charlie hasn't moved in a few minutes and that his eyes appear to be closed. Sneak upstairs quietly to take this picture.



3:30pm - Get out my computer to blog about crib napping success and gchat with Camille about various baby issues including crib napping success.

3:41pm - Notice that Charlie is now awake. Hope fervently that he goes back to sleep. Realize that hope is futile as he lets out a no-monitor-necessary wail.

3:43pm - Abandon crib nap experiment. Lay Charlie on my chest for a snuggle and watch as he promptly falls back asleep.

3:44pm - 5:30pm - Hang out while Charlie sleeps soundly on me.

Crib Nap Fail! Will have to try again tomorrow afternoon!

Nighttime Sleep Update: Charlie slept from 10:30pm to 5:30am last night. Awesome!

Accountability: Got in Run #2 for the week yesterday. Two miles total, this time 3 minutes running, 2 minutes walking, and so on. Did not improve time. More running = slower running.