The Year of Kyle

Hard to believe that today is the last day of 2008! This was definitely the year of Kyle and thus the best year of our lives! I still remember how incredibly excited we were when we saw the little "+" sign on the EPT test...it was the first Saturday in January so literally, the entire year has been about Kyle (although we didn't actually know him for majority of it). He is just such a little joy, except for his new sleep habits...

For the last 2.5 weeks, Kyle has been waking up every two hours in the night to nurse. Like clockwork...no exceptions! Needless to say, I'm a complete zombie and feel like I felt when he was a newborn (but even then, he'd occasionally sleep for a 3 or 4 hour stretch). At 3+ months, I know he should be able to sleep about 6 hrs at night without eating. But I feel like his body is realizing that it is supposed to be bigger, so he's playing catch-up. And he has gained very well during this stretch...he's a little over 14 lbs now and gained 9 oz last week! I feel great about this during the day and realize that his night feedings seem to be benefiting him, but I'm a little more negative when I wake up at night. I think I usually say the same thing each time I get up to feed him (it contains expletives)..."this just really ____ ____"...I'll let you use your imagination. But like everything else, I know this is just a phase. I just hope it phases out soon! It's hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, we woke him up after he'd been asleep for over 9 hours! What a difference a couple weeks make.

Completely unrelated, we had heating oil delivered yesterday for $1.79/gallon...this is literally half what we paid just a few months ago! Our electric bill, however, hasn't fared as well. We had our highest bill ever this month ($265). And no, we don't have electric heat. Somehow, we used 50% more kW than last December, and this December was actually warmer. I guess my being home during the day has quite an impact on our energy consumption.

Should be a quiet New Years Eve tonight. We have no hope/desire to make it to midnight. We were excited to get lobsters for dinner though but just called Big Y to place our order and they're all sold out :( We'll have to figure out a Plan B.

More Christmas Fun

We had our 2nd Christmas celebration at Grammy's yesterday with Nonnie, Aunt Jayne and the Foleys. Kyle enjoyed seeing all his relatives again, although he was a bit fussy. Jon put on a delicious meal, and it was fun to visit and exchange gifts with everyone. So the Christmas festivities are now officially over, although we are still enjoying our Christmas tree and will probably keep it up through New Years.

I was reminded last night why we are so paranoid about germs with Kyle. When we got home from MA, we discovered he had a "boogie" way up in his nose that was affecting his breathing (and a smaller one in the other nostril). I tried suctioning it out but couldn't get it. And when I tried to feed him, because he couldn't breath very well through his nose, he kept gulping air every time he swallowed. His poor little tummy blew up like a balloon with air and he was just screaming in pain. And he wouldn't burp (I think it needed to pass through the other end). This continued through the night, with each feeding. I felt soooo bad for him and I myself cried every time I fed him :( This morning, we could still hear it up there, so we turned on the shower and shut the door, hoping the steam would loosen it. After doing this, he finally sneezed it out a little while later and I was soooo happy for him. It was HUGE and seeing it come out was very satisfying (sorry if that grosses people out...I don't find baby boogies gross though). So I really can't imagine what it would be like if he had an actual head cold, where he has air gulping issues to begin with. He's fed much better since then, and napped for some of the Pats game, which was great. Now we just need a Jets victory...J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets!!

Kyle's First Christmas

We all had a great Christmas yesterday, including Kyle! Kyle didn't quite "get" Christmas though. You know how you're supposed to get up extra early to see if Santa came? Well Kyle slept the latest he's EVER slept...he didn't wake up until 11:30! So we got a late start but still made it to Grammy's for 1pm. As usual, we all spoiled each other. The highlights for Kyle were a BOB jogging stroller from Grammy and a nice toybox from Aunt Ca. And Kyle was just the easiest baby yesterday (maybe because he slept so much the night before)! He was very content just taking it all in, and even slept for over an hour on Jared.

After a fun afternoon at Grammy's, we headed up the street to Kim's house for more fun and festivities. Kyle started getting fussy after about an hour though, so we headed home. It was a great day, and was interesting to finally see all the ice damage up there (although I hear it looked NOTHING like when it happened!).

And today, we've just been hanging out, recovering from all the excitement. I'm still a little kid in that I LOVE looking through all our gifts before putting them away. And the Christmas fun continues tomorrow...back to Grammy's for a meal and a visit with Nonnie, Aunt Jayne and the Foleys.

Happy 3 Month/13 Week Birthday Kyle!

Yes, today is both Kyle's 3 month and 13 week birthday! I'm thinking (hoping!) he's having his 3 month growth spurt because he has been waking up every couple hours at night to eat this week, after he had been sleeping through the night pretty consistently. Who knows though...it could just be a phase. But I must say, it's tough getting up every couple hours, after getting used to sleeping for at least 6 hrs!

He's now up to 13 lbs 7 oz, meaning he gained an average of 6 oz per week over the last month, which is good. We were seriously considering supplementing him with formula, but after "running the numbers", we feel comfortable with his recent gain, so we'll keep plodding along. We'll continue to keep an eye on it though, although I've read their gain usually slows from 5-8 oz to 2.5-4.5 oz/wk after 3 months. Hopefully he'll continue on the 6 oz/wk pace though, to catch up!

Not much else to report. Kyle took a couple good naps today, so Jared and I had some downtime, which was nice. It is so rare that we're both relaxing at the same time! Usually one of us is either with Kyle or doing chores around the house. But today, we played cards while listening to Christmas music and enjoying the tree. Jared should be home from basketball shortly and then it's time for bed. Kyle's already sleeping (probably only for another hour though). And tomorrow, I must finish my Christmas shopping...after getting about 95% of it done online, I actually need to set foot in a couple store...not looking forward to that!

Better Late Than Never...

I just realized that I never posted about getting our Christmas tree. So here it is, a week later! Last Friday, Kyle and I met Jared (after work) at a tree farm near Jared's company. We went Friday night instead of Sat/Sun because it was in the mid 40s but was supposed to be much colder over the weekend. We only had a brief window though, because it was getting dark, but that was all we needed. This was a much larger tree farm than we've gone to the last few years, so there was much better selection. With Kyle somewhat content in his Baby Bjorn (and in cousin Alex's snowsuit that was way too big for him!), we looked around a little and found a nice Douglas Fir. Kyle and I headed home once Jared started cutting it down though, because it was very windy and Kyle was getting cold. Even though it was sort of a big production bringing Kyle, it was fun having him along for his first tree cutting and was worth the effort. And we love our tree! Somehow, we've ended up with Charlie Brown trees the last couple years (probably because we waited to long to get it and just went to a small tree farm down the road). But this is a very full, nicely shaped tree and we are very much enjoying it. Maybe this year we won't promptly take it down the day after Christmas!

Bumbo Boy

The Bumbo seat has now entered Kyle's rotation of "activities". He seems to like it for short stretches, but I think it tires him out holding his head up like that. But it's something different, which is always good. The attached photo is not the most flattering, but that's how Kyle looks when he's in it...like he's trying to figure things out!

Happy 12 Week Birthday Kyle!

Hard to believe Kyle is closing in on 3 months. He had a good 12 week birthday today. He took a 3 hour nap this afternoon, which was nice. And he's up to 13 lbs 1 oz. So he's gaining slowly but surely. Can you tell that his room was dark when I grabbed his clothes this morning??

Inspector Gadget Neck

Just within the last couple days, Kyle has developed a fascination with the TV. Before, we could have it on, and he'd glance at it briefly and look away. But now, he is absolutely obsessed with it! And his neck can literally swivel almost 180 degrees, so even if his back is to the TV, he can crane his neck around to see it. This picture doesn't do it justice, but it gives you an idea. And now, when I'm nursing him and watching TV, he stops nursing periodically to try to twist his neck around to see the TV behind him. And he's the same way with the laptop screen. His new "hobby" made it very difficult for us to watch the Pats game today (although he did nap for over an hour during the game, which was nice). I was hoping he'd have that same enthusiasm for looking at the Christmas tree lights, but it's no contest. He does look at the lights, but not with nearly the same vigor.

Great (and slightly bad) News!

Jared learned yesterday that his company is shutting down for 3 weeks over the holidays...YIPEEEEEEEE!!! It will be so great to have him home for such a long stretch. This is also slightly bad news because this unplanned shutdown is because business is so slow (and it's unpaid). But from our perspective, it's all good.

We woke Kyle up after he'd been asleep for over 9 hrs last night (we thought he should eat!). That blew away his previous record of a little over 8 hrs. And he's napping now. He certainly is a good little sleeper...he must take after his cousins.

Fortunately, we completely missed that awful ice storm...we just got heavy rain down here. But a lot of our friends, and Grammy and Nonnie, weren't so lucky and are without power. We hope everyone gets power restored quickly!

It was only a matter of time...

...before Benson discovered the Pack n Play. At least now Kyle only goes in it after we change his diaper and need to wash our hands. I'll have to make sure Benson isn't exceeding its weight capacity though...he's very big boned :)

Observation

I have noticed that when I burp Kyle, he doesn't always burp but I do! And I'm not a particularly burpy person. In fact, that's probably just about the only time that I burp. Sympathy burping perhaps?

Nothing new in the world of Kyle. He continues to sleep well at night, which is wonderful. And he took a couple 1+ hr naps today. He's "playing" in his crib right now, watching his mobile and grabbing some toys. Almost time for another nap, as he's been awake almost 2 hrs now.

Naps

I just love that Kyle takes real naps now! He's really falling into the morning, afternoon, and dinnertime nap schedule. And his naps are getting longer. Like this morning, he slept for 1.5 hrs, after sleeping 10 hrs last night (waking up after 7 hrs to eat). The book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" made me realize that Kyle should be awake for no more than 2 hr stretches. All babies "want" to nap throughout the day, some (like Kyle) just need more coaxing than others! So I'm living by the two hour rule right now and it works. If it weren't for his nursing troubles, life would be easy right now!

Despite his nursing issues, he gained 8 oz in the last 6 days (measured on the infant scale that I bought). That made me VERY happy, as 5-7 oz per week is normal!

One new thing Kyle is doing is when I try to sit him on my lap, he wants to stand and keeps his legs locked. This can be annoying (like when I'm trying to burp him), but I guess is just part of his development.

Unfortunately, we won't have our Wednesday Grammy visit tomorrow (and probably won't for a while), as Grammy broke a bone in her arm after missing a step and taking a spill. Poor Grammy! We'll miss her tomorrow, but we're glad that she's doing okay and isn't in much pain.

Overnight Excitement

We were awakened last night around 1am, and Kyle was not to blame! Jared's dad and sister Jayne were staying with us this weekend. And a little before 1am, Jayne (who was sleeping on the couch downstairs) knocked on our bedroom door to tell us someone was at the front door! We all got scared, considering how late it was. The person kept ringing the doorbell and banging on the door. Jared looked down the stairs and could see that the person had a hood over his head. After about 5 minutes of ringing/banging, Jared called 911 and then we anxiously awaited the police's arrival (hoping the person would stay at the door until they arrived, so they weren't "at large" in our neighborhood). And they did keep ringing/banging for the 4 minutes it took the police to get here. Once the police car pulled up, we saw the person walk away from the front door. The policeman talked to him for a minute and then cuffed him and put him in the cruiser (two other cruisers had arrived on the scene by this point).

To make a long story short, it was a drunk 15 year old from a neighboring town. His drunk friends had dropped him off in our neighborhood to find friends whom he apparently thought were at our house. The police called his parents to come pick him up. While they were waiting, they took his handcuffs off and had him stand outside with them. So we opened our bedroom window, and Jared, Jayne, Benson and I all crouched down and listened to their conversation. The officer who was questioning him was very rough (and apparently the kid wasn't being very cooperative)...some quotes we heard: "Tell me something that isn't a lie", "If I don't see your ugly mug on that surveillance tape as you claim...", "Are you retarded? Like are you in regular classes at school or special ones?". It was like watching "Cops" on TV...I didn't know cops in the 'burbs could be so verbally abusive!

Finally the kid's dad arrived and the officer let him sit in the car with him for a minute to try to get him to give the cops the info they wanted. But he apparently didn't budge (or was too wasted to put together coherent thoughts). So it sounded like "drunk and disorderly" will be on his record, because we heard they officer say that he'd have to put this on his application when applying to UCONN.

So that was our overnight excitement! And the ironic thing is that this was probably the first night since we've lived in the house that we didn't have our security system armed (because Jayne was sleeping downstairs and would have tripped the motion detector). Once Jayne came upstairs though, we turned it on. And Kyle and Jared's dad are both very sound sleepers, as they slept through all the excitement at the other end of the hall.

After it was over, we discussed what is the time threshold at night where we'd no longer answer the door. We seemed to agree on 10pm (although as you know, I prefer never to answer the door!!).

Last Few Days

Kyle has had a busy couple days. Tuesday, Aunt Ca came to visit (bearing yummy Mexican food!). Kyle loves hanging with his aunt, and even wore his special "if you think I'm cute you should see my aunt" onesie for the occasion:) And then Grammy came over yesterday, which was fun and allowed me to get some stuff done around the house.

Kyle had his worst sleep last night in a while. It took over two hours to get him to fall asleep, and then he woke up a couple hours later at 2am to eat. He didn't sleep very much after that, so I didn't get much sleep either. But I have my every-other-Thursday dinner date with Julie tonight (can't wait!), so that should give me a second wind.

And this morning, I tried on the cute Christmas outfit that Grammy got Kyle and it fits great! He's wearing part of the outfit in the above photo.

Facebook Frenzy

I've been slacking in the blogging department lately because I've been very into Facebook. Jared and I both signed up over the weekend. I'm not sure why I've resisted it until now, because it really is a neat way to catch up with "blasts from the past". I find the site a bit "busy" though...too much information everywhere! I'm sure I'll get used to it.

As for Kyle...he celebrated his 10 week birthday today with a visit from the lactation consultant. She was helpful and knowledgeable but didn't have any easy solutions. His biggest problem is wanting to lean his head forward instead of back while nursing, so he swallows a lot of air and then gets squirmy/gassy. So we'll work on that. He slept for his longest stretch ever last night...almost 8.5 hrs! And then another 3.5 hrs after that. So that was nice! We also cut his fingernails for the first time yesterday and it was surprisingly easy. I had just been filing them until now, but they were sharp little daggers and really needed to be cut. And we discovered his toenails don't seem to be growing very fast, so hopefully we don't have to worry about those for a while. Fascinating post, isn't this? Clearly it's time to end this, now that I'm talking about toenails...

Turkey Day

Kyle enjoyed his first Thanksgiving yesterday. Over the river and through the woods, to Grammy's house we went! Kyle was happy to see his Nonnie again, and enjoyed meeting his Vermont relatives. And everyone except Kyle pigged out on the yummy feast that Grammy cooked up!

There were a couple negatives though. First, Kyle went through the only two outfits he had yesterday (in less than an hour nonetheless!)...he peed through his "real" outfit and then pooped through the back-up outfit (a sleeper) I had in his diaper bag. I thought pee was better than poop, so I rinsed out the pee outfit and put it in the dryer for a few minutes and Kyle wore that the rest of the day. Needless to say, I learned that I need to keep a couple backup outfits in the diaper bag!

The other negative occurred on the drive home. We went the back roads (395 to 44) to avoid a potential backup at the Mass Pike/I-84 interchange. Other than the fact that sitting in traffic is frustrating, we did this mostly because Kyle starts crying as soon as the car stops moving (or even slows down). It was smooth sailing, and Kyle was asleep, until we got off 395 and had to stop for a police checkpoint in Putnam. I guess they were checking for registration, seatbelts and drunk driving. Of course this was enough to wake up Kyle and he proceeded to SCREAM the rest of the ride home (which was about 40 minutes). So our plan backfired on us!

Sleepyhead

Kyle has been a big sleepyhead since his shots. I had heard that it may have that affect on him, and boy did it ever! He slept on me for hours today (and last night), and I loved every minute of it! He hasn't slept that long on me (or really at all!) since those first few days home from the hospital. So I guess the bright side of him getting shots is that he gets really sleepy and cuddly. He doesn't seem to have a fever or be in any pain...just very groggy. Hopefully he'll stay sleepy through the night!

2 Month Checkup

Kyle had his 2 month checkup today, which included his first round of shots. Obviously, I wasn't looking forward to this, but I wasn't dreading it either. It definitely hit me harder than I was expecting though. I actually cried (not hysterically, just tears in my eyes) when the needles went in and he let out this sad, weird cry that I've never heard before :( It was the same feeling (only a billion times stronger) I get when bringing our cat to the vet...he's shaking and terrified and I can't explain to him why he's there. Poor little guy! He's asleep on Jared right now and seems to be recovering okay.

He now weighs 11 lbs 15 oz and is a little over 24 inches. I was disappointed with the weight, as it's on the low end of "normal" gain since his last appointment. But I was also expecting it, since he gets so squirmy/gassy while nursing that I don't think he eats as much as he'd like. I think I'll have a lactation consultant come to the house, to see if there's anything I can do to improve his nursing. The doctor is comfortable with his weight though and told me not to worry about it, and not to supplement with formula or wake him up in the night to eat. He doesn't need to see him back until 4 months but said I could bring him in before then to get him weighed if I wanted. It's funny how it always seems like everyone's babies are in the 99th percentile, so I just assumed ours would be too (especially since Jared and I are both "top percentile" folks ourselves). And here Kyle's only in the 37th percentile for weight (76th for length). Oh well, the doctor says he's healthy and doing well, so I know I shouldn't worry. I just wish nursing was an easier, more comfortable experience for him!

The Napster

Kyle, a.k.a. "The Napster", took his longest nap ever today...almost 3 hrs! And the best part was his timing...he fell asleep right at 1pm (kickoff) and slept until almost 4pm (halfway through the 4th quarter). What a thoughtful little fellow he is, allowing us to watch the Pats game in peace.

It's the weirdest thing...the last 3 mornings, after he wakes up and is "talking", Kyle rotates himself 180 degrees in the crib, meaning he starts with his head at one end and ends up with it at the other. And he does this while fully swaddled in the Miracle Blanket! I've seen him in action...he uses his butt as the pivot point and rocks/wiggles his way around. It's a tight fit around 90 degrees (the short length of the crib), but he makes it through. And fortunately he rotates clockwise, which keeps his swaddle in tact (if he went the other way he would pull it apart). As Grammy said, he could rotate a full 360 degrees in the night and we'd never know!

Kyle's First Bottle

Kyle (on his 2 month birthday) had his first bottle today and enjoyed every last drop! I pumped this morning for the first time and got a little over 3 ounces...not a full meal for him but this was just a test to see if he'd take a bottle. Jared gave it to him and he took to it right away. When he finished, he looked at Jared and cried, as if to say "where's the other one"?! So I'll have to start building up a supply, so that I can leave the house for more than a couple hours...what a liberating feeling that will be! And it's definitely nice bonding for Daddy and Kyle.

Sound Sleeper

So I "reprimanded" Jared this morning when he thundered down the stairs around 5:30 to eat breakfast, because Kyle had just fallen back asleep after his feeding and Jared's "thud thud, thud thud" woke him up (although fortunately he fell back asleep). So why is the title of this post "Sound Sleeper" you ask? Well, I tried to fall back asleep after this but couldn't. So I decided to get up and have some quiet time before Kyle woke up. Practicing what I preach, I very quietly descended the stairs, when all of the sudden "WOO WOO WOO WOO"...I had forgotten to turn off our security system and tripped the motion detector and it is the LOUDEST sound you can imagine!

The few times I've accidentally set off the alarm, it literally has me shaking and my heart racing for about 15 minutes after I shut it off. It is just truly the loudest, most piercing sound you can imagine. So as I'm racing to the keypad to shut it off, I'm not even thinking "oh shoot, I woke Kyle up" (that's a given), but instead I'm thinking "oh my gosh, I've permanently damaged Kyle's hearing!". So I shut it off, the security company called and I gave them the password and told them I was fine. And then I looked at the baby monitor and Kyle was still sound asleep! I was absolutely shocked and sat there watching him on the monitor for about ten minutes until I saw a little movement (so I knew he was alive because I couldn't imagine sleeping through that noise!). I think Kyle is turning a corner in the sleep department...yesterday's hour nap turned into a 2+ hr nap and now he slept through a 70,000 decibel sound! And he's still asleep now. Go figure!

It Finally Happened...

Kyle has been napping in his crib for over an hour!!! As usual, the nap started out with me rocking him to sleep in the glider and then I put him in his crib around 1:45. He woke up minutes later, but I decided to take a shower anyway and just let him cry. When I got out around 2pm, he was asleep, and has been asleep ever since (it is now 3:15). HOORAY!!!! It is truly amazing how long an hour feels! And I'm going out to dinner tonight with Julie, which I am very much looking forward to (my first time dining out since Kyle was born). And tomorrow is Friday. And next week is a short workweek for Jared. Definitely a good day today!

Kyle's Rules

Kyle has very definite "rules" on how to handle him:

Rule #1 - Must hold me at all times (except for brief 15 minute "play sessions" on my playmat, bouncy seat, swing, crib mobile).

Rule #2 - Must sing and dance while holding me. Sound and movement must be continuous...no stopping to catch your breath. And sometimes singing doesn't do it for me and you have to make other creative sounds, like "WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE".

Rule #3 - Under no circumstances are you allowed to sit. Even if you keep singing/rocking me, this is still unacceptable.

Rule #4 - Don't try to get me to nap during the day. Occasionally though, if I'm feeling generous, I'll reward your efforts with a nap half as long as it took you to get me to sleep (e.g. rock me to sleep for 30 minutes and I'll sleep for 15).

If you follow these 4 simple rules, Kyle is a really easy baby! Grammy did a good job obeying his rules today and gave me a very much needed break...thanks Grammy.

I almost forgot...

Happy 8 week birthday Kyle!

Where does time go?

Looking back, what the heck did we do with all our time before Kyle was born? I always felt like we were busy, but I can't tell you exactly what used to fill our evenings and weekends. Now time just seems to fly by, and I never get done what I want to get done (except for hanging out with Kyle of course).

Even though I feel like I didn't stop all weekend, this is all that I have to show for it: cut Jared's hair, made a batch of chili, opened a 529 account for Kyle, sold my old cell phone on eBay, and did 3 loads of laundry. Doesn't sound like much, but somehow that (and caring for Kyle of course, although Jared pretty much takes over on the weekends, except for the nursing) took up the whole weekend!

Oh, one other thing I did this weekend was order Size 2 diapers from diapers.com. I don't have a good handle on diaper prices, but there was a coupon code in Parents magazine for $10 off an order of $50, with free shipping (code = "PARENTS11" if anyone's interested). So I ordered the largest case of Size 2 Swaddlers (184 ct) and "trivisol" drops (a Vitamin D supplement that all breastfed babies are supposed to take in the winter). As luck would have it, it came to almost exactly $50 before the $10 off. Seemed like a good deal. Unfortunately, Kyle's Size 1 diapers are really getting tight on him. This is unfortunate because we way overbought this size and have about 175 diapers left (3 unopened packages that were part of a case so can't be returned). Live and learn...

And for those interested in Kyle's sleep last night (namely, Grammy), he slept from 10-4, and then off and on for brief periods ever since. So I've been awake since 4am, and Jared has basketball tonight, so it's going to be a VERY long day!

Endless Attempts

It seems like the last few days/nights have been filled with endless attempts to get Kyle to fall asleep. The not sleeping during the day was bearable when he was sleeping so well (and falling asleep so easily) at night. But the last 3 nights, it has taken us 3 hrs to get him asleep, and he's been sleeping less than 6 hrs, instead of 7-8. Oh well, I know everything is just a phase (the good and the bad), but it's just so frustrating that getting a 7 week old to fall asleep is such a challenge!

I am still determined to get him to take a nap during the day though. I just spent almost an hour rocking him and he's now been asleep in his crib for almost 30 minutes. It would feel like such an accomplishment if he'd nap for at least an hour in his crib. I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

Must go order the NFL Network now, since our local networks are not allowed to broadcast tonight's Pats/Jets game.

Happy 7 Week Birthday Kyle!

Yes, today is Kyle's 7 week birthday. He was very smiley for his 7 week "photo shoot"...


One pleasant surprise today was that Jared didn't have basketball tonight because of Veterans Day, so I didn't have the super-long day that I was anticipating :)

And to update my previous post, the crib nap only lasted about a half hour :( I'll try again tomorrow.

Firsts

A few firsts have occurred in the last 24 hrs:

1) I was alone in the house, without Kyle! Jared took him for a long walk yesterday, and I used the time to clean the upstairs (I had cleaned the downstairs on Saturday). Maybe I should have used that time to lie on the couch and do nothing...

2) I drove in my car without Kyle! Yes, I ran a few errands last night...picked up photos at CVS, returned a ton of online purchases to Old Navy, bought some picture frames at Michaels and got gas. Errands have never been more enjoyable...I'll have to start doing that more often.

3) I may be speaking too soon on this, but Kyle has been asleep in his crib for about 30 minutes now. As you know, he does NOT nap during the day. But I was determined to get him to take one today, so I rocked him from a hysterical state to sleep over about a 45 minute span and am now enjoying the fruits of my labor. If he sleeps in there for at least 1 hour, I'll consider it a nap...his first one ever in the crib!

Real Outfit!

It took almost 7 weeks, but Kyle actually wore a "real" outfit today (i.e. not a sleeper). Unfortunately, I had "misfiled" these 3 month jeans in his 6 month drawer. So I basically missed the window on them because they're now a bit tight/short. But that's actually good news because Kyle has lots of cute 6 month outfits to wear (thanks to cousin Alex!).

Kyle slept from 10-6 last night, and then from 7-10. So Jared and I are very well-rested! And thanks to Nonnie, we now know why Kyle doesn't sleep during the day...he's his daddy's boy :)

Loud Walk

I just took Kyle for a walk, hoping to get him to fall asleep for a little bit, because that's what babies do on walks, right? Grammy, you know better (like mother like son). Well right around the halfway point of my loop (about 1.5 miles from home), Kyle started crying and it just kept getting louder and louder. So I started doing different things with the stroller to try to calm him down...swerving, figure 8s, going backwards, spinning in circles, etc. I must have looked like a lunatic! He'd calm down while I was doing these wild maneuvers, but would start crying as soon as I resumed the traditional forward motion. Eventually though, I just forged ahead, with him still screaming. Fortunately, I had my iPod so was somewhat able to drown out the crying. Not the most relaxing walk I've ever taken, but he did finally fall asleep a few minutes before he got home. So I left him in the stroller on the back walkway (and I sat on the deck), hoping he'd sleep for a while. But that didn't happen...he woke up about 15 minutes later. He's definitely challenging during the day, as he just won't nap! But he is sleeping great at night, and that's half the battle!

Milestone?

Grammy and I were playing with Kyle on his playmat today and decided to give him some tummy time. After holding his head up for a little while, he rolled over onto his back! This could have just been a fluke, because my books say he's a few months early for that. But he is a strong little fellow, so who knows!

Kyle wasn't quite his easy Wednesday self today...Grammy got a little flavor of his evil twin, the one that cries a lot! But we had a nice visit, and walk through the neighborhood. Grammy was a little hot on the walk though. It was almost 70 degrees out and she had on a jacket, wool sweater, turtleneck and undershirt :) I was sweating in my one layer!

Hopefully Kyle will have a night like last night...he slept for almost 8 hrs straight!

Busy Day

Kyle and I had a busy day today (he was well rested after sleeping for a 7+ hr stretch last night). We headed to the polls around noon, which I would think is one of the busier times of day (lunch hour). But there was absolutely no wait...just walked right through. I don't understand these places that have mile long lines! I've voted in 4 presidential elections now, in 3 different towns, and have never waited for more than a couple minutes. It really is too bad that they can't come up with a hack-proof online voting system. Think of all the time/money/trees that would be saved!

From there, we picked up Grammy and visited Kyle's Grampy at the cemetery. Kyle enjoyed hearing us talk about his Grampy. And the weather was perfect. On the way home, we stopped and picked up some apples at Bolton Orchard. I should mention this was the first time that Kyle has cried for any length of time in the car (I'm worried!). So I dropped Grammy off and then drove around while she was getting the apples, because he would have become hysterical if I stopped. Then, Grammy made a delicious pizza for us. After a fun visit, we headed home and are watching the election coverage. This just in...Obama is projected to win Massachusetts ;)

Oh, and this morning, we bought stocks for the first time. All our other investments are mutual funds, but this seemed like a good time to "dabble". I could definitely see myself getting into this! I love numbers/statistics and I think it will be fun to follow (kind of like fantasy sports teams!). Jared did all the research, and I just clicked the mouse. But maybe I'll educate myself and become a day trader...

Kyle's Official

Kyle's identity is now very well documented. He and I took a little field trip to the town hall today and got a copy of his birth certificate. And then when I got home, there was his social security card in the mail. With all these documents, I think he's ready to vote tomorrow!

6 Years!

Yes, today marks 6 years of wedded bliss for Jared and me. And since going out to eat isn't really an option these days, we decided to get lobsters for our anniversary dinner. I'll start off by saying that the lobsters were delicious! But the meal ended up being a bit of a "challenge". As hard as we tried, we could not get Kyle content anywhere (swing, playmat, papasan, etc). And this was after he did not nap AT ALL today (for the second day in a row). So as much as we wanted to have a nice 20 minute meal together, it didn't seem possible so we decided to eat in shifts. I was going to eat first, because I only eat the "easy stuff" on lobsters (meaning I'm quick), whereas Jared likes to pick out every last fleck of meat.

Jared thought they were softshells, but I quickly discovered that they DEFINITELY were not. And I couldn't find our lobster crackers (or even a nutcracker) anywhere. The last I remember using the crackers was at our apartment, so maybe they somehow got lost or thrown out in the move. These shells were impossible!! After struggling and cutting up my hands trying to break them apart, I knew I needed Jared's assistance. That's when Kyle gave us his anniversary gift...a 25 minute nap in the swing! So Jared was able to join me at the table. And with the aid of a garlic press (the closest thing we could find to a lobster cracker), he was able to successfully crack open the lobsters. But boy was it messy! Shells and juice were flying everywhere...all over the table, floor and us. So it wasn't exactly a relaxing, romantic anniversary dinner (and not that we thought it would be with a 6 week old!), but we're glad we got them. Despite all the effort required, they really hit the spot. And the kitchen has since been "hosed down" and we've each taken showers. So all's well that ends well.

Didn't Kyle do a good job taking this (cheesy) picture of us?! ;)

Happy Halloween!

As you can see from the photo, Kyle was very excited about his first Halloween! He went out trick-or-treating (in his stroller) on Grammy's street with a couple monkeys and a bear. Oh, and a witch...sorry Grammy! Alex, Rachel and Evan were fun to watch as they bravely walked up to houses. And they were VERY excited about the candy! Kyle passed on the candy, as he's very committed to his milk-only diet, but he had fun being part of the gang.

And I know they say babies Kyle's age can't get on a schedule, but he's slept from 11pm-5am and then 6am-9:30am the last three nights. Coincidence? I hope not!

Easy Baby

Kyle has been such an easy baby the last couple days. Yesterday, Grammy visited and Kyle was on his best behavior because it was her birthday...lots of smiling, playing and sleeping. Then last night, Kyle slept from 11-5 (is that considered "sleeping through the night"??). And he's taken a couple good naps since then (in his Miracle Blanket, which is truly living up to its name!). Such a good little guy :) I think he's resting up for his first Halloween. If it's warm enough tomorrow night, Kyle will be "trick-or-treating" up in MA with his cousins (dressed as little monkeys).

And on Ca's recommendation, I've started watching Weeds. Netflix has Seasons 1 and 2 on "Watch Instantly", meaning I can watch them right online. The episodes are 30 minutes long, which is conveniently about the length of a nursing session. So I've watched the first two episodes this morning, nursing with the laptop next to me...very convenient and I really like the show so far!

Tidy Little Package

Ca, I am sold on the Miracle Blanket! Last night, after several rounds of putting Kyle in his crib and watching (on the monitor ) his little limbs flailing around, I decided that I needed to figure out the Miracle Blanket. I had tried it before but couldn't get his flexed little arms to straighten out. But last night, I guess he was a bit floppier, because I was able to put it on him (I think the right way). At first he seemed terrified, but then he seemed to relax and slept for a 5 hr and then a 4 hr stretch. His good sleep might also have something to do with the fact that he didn't sleep at all yesterday. But I do think he feels comfortable and secure as a "tidy little package" (if I may steal your terminology). And like you said, his hands/arms do probably distract him when he's trying to fall asleep. So assuming I'm doing it right, I guess I don't need Miracle Blanket lesson on Friday! But maybe I'll bring it anyway, so Kyle can be a mummy for Halloween :)

Nap Please

Days when Kyle doesn't sleep at all are VERY long! Especially when they follow a night of only 3 hrs of sleep. I just tried a car ride, but even that didn't make him sleep. Aren't babies supposed to sleep a lot?? On a positive note, he's been in a good mood for most of the day...lots of smiling and playing, and very little crying. But everything that made him happy/content today has required my full effort/involvement. So I would just love for him to take a little nap so I could get some stuff done around the house (or take a nap myself!).

Happy 5 Week Birthday Kyle

Apparently, Kyle was too excited about his 5 week birthday to sleep last night. He didn't fall asleep until after 3am. And we started trying to put him to bed around 10pm. So needless to say, it was a VERY long, frustrating night. And then he woke up at 7am and wouldn't fall back asleep after I fed him. He was awake all morning, doing lots of nursing and crying. He finally fell asleep in his PnP around 1pm and is still asleep now. Hopefully, he'll take a good nap, since he only got 4 hrs of sleep last night! It may be coincidence, but it seems that he never sleeps well after we give him a bath (which we did last night). He gets pretty hysterical during the bath, so maybe it riles him up too much to sleep afterward. I think we'll trying bathing him earlier in the day next time, to test my theory.

More Cousin Fun!

Kyle enjoyed a visit from his cousins today, and got to meet his Uncle Jon for the first time. While Alex and Rachel played outside, Kyle slept for most of the visit...first on Mommy, then on Aunt Ca, and then on Daddy. Not sure why he was so sleepy after sleeping from midnight until 11am (including a wonderful 7 hour stretch without waking!!). The visit ended when Alex demanded they leave in the gray XC90 :)

Kyle also had a fun "play date" with his buddy Jeremy on Friday. He was content for most of the afternoon watching and listening to the big kids play. He especially enjoyed watching Remy work on his new maneuver from the coffee table to the couch :)

Hopefully the Pats will hold on to this 7 pt lead!

Kyle's Playmat

Over the last few days, Kyle has really started to "play" on his playmat (a gift from Marti...thanks Marti!). He bats around the hanging rattle toys and coos, and looks up at the musical, lighted star. We had a few little play sessions today, including the one below...

Benson?

It just occurred to me that I hadn't seen Benson all morning, which is very unusual because he is usually bugging me constantly to fill his already brimming-full food dish. After searching the house, he's been located, sound asleep under our comforter...

Still My Little Angel

Kyle followed up his good day with a great night. He slept in his crib from 10:30 to 9:30, waking up every 4 hrs or so to eat. And when he woke up at 9:30, he wasn't crying but just "talking" happily in his crib. This allowed me to ease into the day. Usually, I wake up to him screaming and I jump out of bed to get dressed and brush my teeth. But this morning, I lay in bed for about 10 minutes, enjoying his happy chatter and the snuggliness of my bed. When I went in to get him, I even got a smile before I took him out of his crib. And now, he's happily swinging away, which allowed me to eat in peace and do this posting. Hooray for Kyle!!

My Little Angel

They say a good day usually follows a bad one. Well this was definitely the case for us. Yesterday was rough...very little sleep and LOTS of crying. But today was the exact opposite...lots of sleep and happy awake time...he was a little angel. Grammy would like to believe this about face was her doing (she came down for her Wednesday visit), and maybe she's right! Kyle seems to always be on his best behavior when Grammy's around. And we're pretty sure he's started making "real" smiles...he does it as a reaction to talking and singing, and his whole face lights up...so cute :)

We feel good because he slept in his crib last night for the first time in almost a week. He had been sleeping in his car seat, which we didn't feel great about from a SIDS standpoint, but it seemed to be the only place that he'd fall asleep. So we were determined to get him to fall asleep in the crib last night and we eventually succeeded (after a couple hours of crying). Hopefully this will continue. In fact, as of 10 minutes ago, he's back asleep in there, hopefully for a few hours. Oops, I spoke too soon...I hear him crying. Oh well, the night's still young...

Shower Please

Taking a shower sounds like a very simple task, right? Well, I literally spent my entire day trying to take one. My shower prerequisite was Kyle either being content in a secured location (e.g. swing, car seat, etc) or sleeping. I tried from 9am to 2pm to get him in one of these states and failed miserably. I even went for two car rides. He slept during the rides but woke up as soon as we got inside. If only I could shower in the car! He had a doctors appointment at 3pm, so after all that, I finally just took a shower with him screaming the whole time in the car seat (bad mommy!). Oh well, they say crying is good exercise for babies, right? If so, he definitely got a good workout today!

His 4 week check-up went well. He's up to 10 lbs 9 oz, which the pediatrician said is good weight gain. Everything else looked good too. His next appointment will be at 2 months.

Time for Kyle's bath now...hopefully it will be less of a challenge than my shower!

Good Night (except for the Sox)

It's funny how a "good" day or night is now entirely defined by Kyle...whether he slept well, cried a lot, peed through his clothes, etc. Normally, I'd be really bummed about the Sox loss last night. But Kyle slept from 9:30pm-2am, 3am-7am, and 7:30am-9:30am. This was his best night in a while! So that's why it was a good night, despite the Sox loss. And I'll even go so far as to say, good for the Rays! What a great story it will be if they win it.

Kyle and I just got back from our afternoon car ride, and he's still asleep in his car seat (inside of course). So I think I'll go make some lunch and put in laundry, before he wakes up.

Oh, and happy 4 week birthday to Kyle...boy do they grow up fast ;)

Cousin Fun

This is a couple days late, but Kyle met his cousins, Alex and Rachel, on Friday. Kyle enjoyed hanging with the big kids, but unfortunately wasn't able to participate in most of the activities, as they all required the ability to walk, talk, sing, jump, etc. But he did shine in one activity...napping! He slept like a champ through LOTS of noise and commotion. As you can see from the photo, it's tough to get a prize-winning photo of an infant and a couple 2 year olds...and this was the best of about 20 shots!

Nights are definitely rough these days. Last night, Kyle didn't fall asleep until after 3am...he must have thought the Sox game went 17 innings. And this was after literally not sleeping all day! He just screams and screams at night and nothing calms him down other than nursing (which I can only do so much of). We were ready to take him for a car ride as a last resort, but then he FINALLY fell asleep (now that I think about it, maybe a car ride should be our "first resort"). He then slept until 7am, nursed, and has been asleep ever since. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to fall back asleep after the 7am nursing. I plan to take a nap this afternoon though. At least we have the Sox game tonight, and the Pats tomorrow, to entertain us during these late nights. If tonight is like last night, I'll be hoping for extra innings!!

Thanks Kyle!!

If it weren't for Kyle, Jared and I would have slept through the Sox historic comeback last night. That was amazing!! I'll admit, I haven't followed the Sox as closely this season as I have in years past. I guess that's what a couple world championships can do to you. But last night's victory was just what I needed to get excited about them again...can't wait for Game 6!!

Oh, in case it's not obvious, Kyle is to thank for us watching the game because he was screaming his lungs out from about 9-midnight. So it wasn't ideal circumstances for watching the game, but it definitely made his fussiness easier to deal with. And he literally fell asleep right as the game ended, so he knew exactly what he was doing all along ;)

My New Best Friend

I take back what I said in my last post...the car isn't my best friend, it's the car SEAT! Over the last couple days, I've figured out that Kyle has a reflux issue. That's why he would no longer sleep in his PnP or crib, because lying flat caused milk to come back up, which hurts his tummy. So last night he slept in our room in his car seat (which puts him at an incline) and he slept well...two 4 hr stretches. And now he's napping in his car seat (and has been for almost 3 hrs!)...I didn't even have to go for a car ride to get him to fall asleep in it. Who knows how long this solution will last, but for now, it's working. And I'm learning that you just have to take it one day at a time with a baby. Also, at the recommendation of a very wise, seasoned mommy (thanks Killah), I am going to try Mylicon drops, to help ease his reflux/gas pain.

Kyle and I had a great visit with Grammy yesterday. It was a perfect fall day! We went for a walk through the neighborhood, and a leaf-peeping car ride (with a stop at CVS so I could get my flu shot). Kyle slept through both activities, in his car seat of course. Grammy's Wednesday visits definitely help break up the week!

Want to go for a ride?

The car seems to be my best friend these days. It is a surefire way to get Kyle to fall asleep. We have gone for rides the last couple days, just driving around town. Somehow, I drove over 30 miles today, yet I didn't leave the town of Tolland! It's a good thing gas prices are coming down, because I sense I'll be doing this a lot in the coming weeks. And it must be squirrels "busy season" because I literally almost ran over 10 different squirrels today. That would have put a damper on things. But other than that, what a nice time of year it is to drive around, with the pretty foliage. And it's nice to get to spend some quality time with my new car (which I love!). I got it right after I started working from home, so really haven't driven it much.

Ugly Sox game so far. Guess the knuckle ball isn't knuckling tonight.

Grammy's coming down for the day tomorrow...yippee!!!!

Another non-Kyle Post

I just read that Sarah Palin's baby's middle name is Van, in honor of Van Halen. So his name is Trig Paxson "Van Palin". How cheesy!! And Sarah Palin was introduced at a rally to the song "Right Now". Clearly Palin is a fan of Van Halen, but not vice versa...the band was ticked that their song was used without permission (which they would not have granted if asked).

I feel like I'm cheating!!

This swing is just too good to be true! Our day started off the same way as the last few, with Kyle just wanting to nurse constantly without sleeping in between. So after feeding him a bunch of times, I put him in his swing and, once again, he fell asleep INSTANTLY. It just seems way too easy, like I'm "cheating"! What a wonderful invention, almost as wonderful as the epidural :)

Miraculous "Tool"

Ca, I should have listened to you much sooner. Ca has been pushing us to try out all the "tools" at our disposal, to calm Kyle when he's in a no-sleep feeding frenzy. The suggested tools were the Baby Bjorn, swaddle, a pacifier, and the swing. As Jared was reading up on the Baby Bjorn a few hours ago, Kyle was in one of these frenzies. So I had Jared bring down the swing and literally, Kyle was sound asleep within 5 minutes of being put in it (before we even put batteries in it, with us just pushing him manually). So we put in batteries and he's been swinging away, sound asleep, for almost 2 hrs now...yippee!!!!!! What a liberating feeling this is, especially heading into the work week when I lose my favorite "tool" named Jared :) A part of me wants to limit his swing time, so the novelty doesn't wear off for him. And another part of me is afraid I'm going to WAY overuse it, because it gives me such a wonderful break!! I'll aim for somewhere in the middle...all things in moderation.

Non-Kyle Post

Okay, I'm tired of posting about how frequently Kyle's eating and how little he's sleeping (last night was no different by the way...he was wide awake eating constantly from 10pm to 4am, after doing the same yesterday from 8am to 7pm!). So here's a totally non-Kyle post. Does anyone visit cnn.com regularly? I check it a few times a day, to see what's going on in the world. And of course the featured story is always the stock market. And CNN's featured story always has an accompanying photo. Since it's hard to photographically depict a plummeting stock market, CNN opts to use photos of devastated-looking people (I'm assuming investors of some sort). And it's different devastated people every time I check. For some reason, I find these photos humorous. Maybe it's because I'm severely sleep-deprived. Who knows. Just thought I'd share that with you.

Must go feed Kyle for the 93rd time this morning...I swear he must have gained 5 lbs in the last 24 hrs!!

Where is it??

For the last few days, Kyle has just wanted to nurse CONSTANTLY from about 8am until 5pm. Basically, he has a boob in his mouth for the majority of this time. But I do try to get a little breather in between. I either put him in his PnP (which gets me about 10 minutes of peace), or I try to get him to fall asleep on my chest. But the latter ALWAYS results in his desperate attempt to locate my third boob. He's positive I have one, even though I tell him I don't. He just bobs his head around blindly (a.k.a. bobbing for booby) in my neck/shoulder area searching for this elusive treat. And he gets increasingly frustrated when he can't find it. Sometimes it makes me laugh (especially his little pig noises), other times I just want to cry because I feel like I can't satisfy his little tummy. I am soooo glad it's the weekend though, so Jared can take him in between feedings and give me a break (which he's doing right now!). I am going to go enjoy a nice, relaxing shower now, without listening for Kyle's crying like I do during the week!

No rest for the weary...

Despite how much Kyle was awake yesterday (like the entire day!), we didn't have a particularly good night. It wasn't awful, but he didn't sleep for more than about 3 hrs at a time. Unfortunately, after not sleeping all day, he fell asleep around 5:30 (when Jared got home of course) and was out like a light...not the time I wanted him to be sleeping! I woke him up to feed him around 8:30 and then put him in his crib. But I think that "nap" before bed made him less tired and more hungry in the night. And today is off to the same start as yesterday...he hasn't slept a wink since about 6:30am. I've just been feeding him constantly, and then he screams bloody murder about 10 minutes after I put him in his PnP for a nap. In fact, he is screaming right now, so I must go. Looks like it will be another long day...

Food Interrupted

I literally have not been able to eat a single bite of food today without Kyle SCREAMING in the background. Not a very relaxing way to eat. This is the downside to him sleeping so well at night...I don't get a break during the day. I don't think he's actually slept at all today. I've just been feeding him, singing/talking to him, and changing his diapers all day. After each feeding, I put him in the PnP...he'll appear to be asleep for about 15 minutes before he starts screaming his lungs out. Definitely makes for a long day. And I was so excited for my lunch...after over 9 months of not eating deli meat, I grilled up a ham and cheese sandwich. I brought it out on the deck to enjoy, along with the beautiful weather. As soon as I took my first bite (and boy was it delicious!), Kyle started screaming. So instead of savoring each bite, I had to wolf it down, with him screaming in the background. Not a very pleasant way to eat. And the same thing happened with my breakfast, and just now when I tried to eat an apple. My 15 minute PnP window must almost be up...Jared, please come home!!

Great Night!

I was expecting a good night, but Kyle exceeded my expectations...he slept from 9:30 to 4:30...7 hours!! And then, he even fell back asleep from 5-8 this morning as a bonus. If only I could stop my milk production during these long stretches! So there's a definite, direct correlation between his sleep at night and his eat/sleep pattern during the day. When he sleeps a lot during the day and doesn't eat as often, he does NOT sleep well at night. When he's awake most of the day, eating frequently, he sleeps very well at night. This certainly makes sense, but I thought there was no rhyme or reason to newborns' eat/sleep habits. We need to have Grammy come over more often to keep Kyle entertained and awake during the day!

And I should note that Kyle has been in the same outfit for almost 24 hrs, meaning he hasn't wet/pooped through it yet (I'm sure I just jinxed myself). So sometimes things just go right...I should probably run out and buy a lottery ticket today, right?!

Kyle's Visit with Cute Aunt Ca

Kyle was treated yesterday to a visit from his "if you think I'm cute, you should see my aunt" Aunt Ca! Ca came bearing delicious Mexican food, a pumpkin and mum for our front steps, and a HUGE rubbermaid container full of hand-me-down clothes from cousin Alex! It was like Christmas in October! Kyle slept for the first couple hours of her visit (a rare 5 hr day nap!), and then later had a nice long 3 hr nap on Aunt Ca's chest. They definitely had some quality nephew/aunt bonding. Kyle also had his first real bath last night (now that his umbilical stump fell off), with Aunt Ca coaching us on the finer points of bathing an infant. I can't say he enjoyed his bath, but he also didn't seem to mind it too much. We had the heat cranked up, so that probably helped keep him relatively content.

We knew that all his sleeping during the day didn't bode well for our night. And it definitely was a rough one! Kyle wanted to nurse constantly from about 9-1am, and I had a HORRIBLE headache which made this very difficult. But we made it through. And Kyle was up most of the day today visiting with his Grammy, so we're expecting a good sleeping night tonight (I know...I'm supposed to have LOW expectations).

Kyle and I have nothing on the calendar tomorrow, so we're thinking our big activity could be taking our first walk together through the neighborhood. It's supposed to be 70F, so it should be a good day to test drive the stroller and get some fresh air.

It Figures...

Last night was the first night I had the green light to let Kyle sleep for as long as he wanted, with no guilt that I should wake him up to eat. So how do you think he slept? He slept like a typical newborn (which he is, so I'll cut him some slack)...not for more than 3 hrs at a time. He fell asleep on me from about 8-10pm, so that shortened his nightly feeding frenzy which probably made him get hungrier again sooner in the night. Oh well, maybe tonight I'll have that uninterrupted, guilt-free 6 hrs of sleep!

And I'm really struggling with the whole "winkie down" thing. I try, but his winkie is just so tiny (sorry Kyle!), that it's hard to really position it. Last night around 3am, I just changed a wet diaper and his very wet clothes. Before I fed him, I put him in his crib (in his dry diaper and clean, dry clothes) so that I could wash my hands. When I returned, the back of his clothes (and crib sheet) were soaked! Apparently, he peed again and it just all drained around to his back. And here I was thinking that this problem would be solved (or at least helped) by the fact that his cord stump fell off, meaning we can now pull the diapers up over his belly button. Guess not! It's funny thinking back to our first couple days at home how I asked Ca if it's okay to leave a baby in the same clothes for a couple days...this was obviously before my milk came in because I think he's averaging about 4 outfits a day now!

2 Week Appointment

Just got back from Kyle's two week appointment with the pediatrician and all is well. He's up to 9 lbs 13 oz, meaning he's gained 14 oz in the 10 days since his last appointment. So I guess he's getting enough milk, which makes me feel very relieved. And he said that since he's gaining well, it's fine to let him sleep 5, 6, even 7 hrs at night. This was great to hear, since I've been waking up each night debating whether or not I should wake him to eat, or let him sleep. Now I can thoroughly enjoy my sleep! Everything else looked and sounded good...he said he's a healthy, strong little guy.

So this long stretch of sleep at night is great, but the hours leading up to it are EXHAUSTING! From about 8-midnight, he just needs to eat CONSTANTLY. If he's not on a boob, he's screaming his lungs out. And of course this is the time of day when I'm dead tired and just want to sleep. And there's really nothing Jared can do to help (although he tries!), since he doesn't have boobs. I know I shouldn't be complaining, because the sleep that follows is a wonderful thing. But it's just VERY exhausting. Apparently I was the same way as a baby, so like my mom says, it's payback time!

Mystery Solved!

As I was emptying the dryer today, I heard something rattling around in there. After fishing around a bit, I pulled out the remains of Kyle's umbilical cord stump! It did take me a minute to figure out that this is what it was. Looked pretty gross, but I feel better knowing its whereabouts. Ironically, that load of clothes didn't dry very well...I hope his little stump didn't break our dryer!

Kyle's Weekend Excitement

Kyle has had an exciting couple days! Friday night, he had a visit from Julie, John and adorable buddy Jeremy (see above...isn't he the cutest??). They brought with them a delicious salmon dinner (looking forward to the leftovers today!), and also filled up our freezer with lots of yummy home-cooked meals! Talk about spoiling us!! Then yesterday, we went up to Grammy's for brunch, where Kyle got to meet his "Nonnie". That was also Kyle's first time crossing the CT stateline. So lots of excitement for Kyle as he approaches his two week birthday!

He continues to sleep for long stretches at night (always preceeded by an exhausting 4 hr feeding frenzy). Last night, he slept from 11:30 to 5, and then again from 5:30 to 9:30! I feel like I can't totally enjoy this yet though, not knowing if he's gaining weight. But we go to the pediatrician tomorrow for his 2 week check-up, so we'll find out soon enough.

And today's excitement will be Kyle's first Patriots game! Fortunately, he was still in-utero (not for long though) two weeks ago and didn't have to witness the Pats' humiliating loss to the Dolphins. I think he'll bring them good luck today...

Diaper Update

Kyle just pooped AGAIN on the changing table when I took his diaper off!! What is going on??? As if changing a poopy diaper isn't bad enough, but changing poopy clothes is the worst! But he's still a cutie and I love him :)

Diaper Disasters

The last two diapers I've changed have been total disasters. The first happened around 4:30 when I got up to feed him. He had pooped through his onesie/sleeper/blanket, and of course peed the instant I took off his diaper. Then, the next diaper change was about an hour ago. I peeked in and no poop, but it felt wet so I decided to change it...BAD DECISION! Not only did he pee as soon as I took it off, but he also pooped on the changing table (and his clothes)! So he's now in his third outfit in less than 5 hours! When he has poop on his onesie, I've started pulling it down over his feet instead of over his head, so it's a little cleaner. Were they intended to go over either end?? Hope so. Oh, and of course we had just given him a sponge bath last night before bed.

On a happier note, he had another good night. It got off to a rough start though. I think he was so worked up from his bath (which he hates!) that he didn't fall asleep for any length of time until midnight. But then he slept from about 12-4, and then 4-8. So I can't complain!

And Kyle hit a big milestone...his umbilical cord fell off overnight, although I can't find where it went! When we were washing him last night, it looked like it was only held on by a few threads. And then this morning, it's gone! I hope it was ready, because it doesn't look totally healed under there. I was expecting a perfect little belly button to emerge, but maybe that takes some time. I'll have to read up on that...

Living in "The Now"

Well I think Kyle has decided that being nocturnal isn't for him. He slept great again last night in his crib, with me having to wake him up for both feedings. It was nice knowing though that if he didn't sleep well, I could watch the late-night Sox game. But he fell asleep around 9 and so did I, meaning I didn't even watch a single pitch. What kind of example am I setting for Kyle?! Glad to see they won though...they definitely have the Angels' number in the playoffs.

I love sleeping in my bed again! And that awful hip/butt pain I was having the last few months of pregnancy is almost totally gone, so I'm sleeping very comfortably, which makes it that much harder to drag myself out of bed in the night to feed him. I can only imagine how hard it will be in the dead of winter! And Kyle seems to really like his crib...he definitely has slept better in there than in either PnP. I know it will be months before we truly have any kind of schedule, but I feel like things are headed in the right direction for now (and we live in "the now", right Grammy?).

Expectations

I need to learn not to have expectations when it comes to newborns. That will only lead to disappointment. I should be very happy right now, because Kyle once again had two good chunks of sleep overnight (both times I had to wake him up to feed him because it had been about 3.5 hrs). But I was expecting a third chunk of sleep early this morning (just like yesterday), and that never happened. He didn't go back to sleep after 4am, and started into his feeding frenzy. And I so desperately wanted another couple hours of sleep that I kept trying to calm him down (without nursing)...I knew he had a clean diaper and had just eaten so in my mind there was no reason for him not to go back to sleep. But he had his own agenda and just wanted to eat and eat and eat. So I have to settle for the sleep I got...probably about 5 hrs total, which isn't bad.

Last night was the first time we tried him in the crib, meaning Jared and I slept in the bed together which was nice (I had been sleeping on the couch in the family room, with him in the pack n play). He seemed to like his crib, so I think we'll continue with that. I had the monitor on but turned it off when I realized how easily I could hear him when he made any sort of sound.

I'm hoping Kyle sleeps some during the day today. Yesterday, which was my first day alone with no Jared/Grammy, he did not sleep for more than about 20 minutes at a time. So that made for a pretty long day! Of course when Jared came home, he fell asleep on his chest for about 2 hrs. Jared (tongue-in-cheek) said that I must have had a really easy day. Hopefully I'll get those 2 hrs today sometime between now and 5pm!

No matter how little he sleeps or how often he wants to eat, Kyle's still the most precious little guy in the world and I love him to pieces :)

What a difference a night makes!!

Kyle slept like a champ last night, meaning I did too. He slept from 7-11 (and would have kept going but my boobs were going to explode so I woke him up). Then he slept from midnight to 3:30, and 4:30-8. So for the first time in a week and a half, I feel very rested! I think I can thank Grammy for his good night of sleep...her visit yesterday was very exciting for Kyle and kept him more alert and awake than usual, as he didn't want to miss any of the action. Grammy tends to have that affect on people :) Grammy and Kyle did have a nice snooze together, as you'll in the picture.

The only negative from last night is that Kyle peed through 3 outfits! And here I've been critiquing Jared's diaper changing techniques, but apparently I haven't mastered it myself. I try to go "piece down" (as we say), so that the pee goes down into the diaper not up. But somehow his back kept ending up soaked. I'll have to work on that...

1 Week Photo of Kyle

He's definitely becoming more alert and wanting to socialize more, in between his already full schedule of eating, sleeping and pooping.

One Week Birthday!

Happy one week birthday Kyle! Events usually seem either more distant or more recent, but I would say his birth feels like it was exactly a week ago (for whatever that's worth). We're going to celebrate the event today with a visit from Grammy.

It's amazing how 3 hrs of sleep can make you feel like a million bucks...I feel like a whole new woman!! "Woman, "that reminds me...I'll have to tell my coworker that I had a man, not a woman. Thank you Kyle (and idiot crib guy for not arriving 11 hrs early) for making this sleep possible.

3am

Well, it's 3am and I still haven't had a wink of sleep tonight. Once again, Kyle just wants to eat incessantly. I have him in the pack n play now, and for the first time (because we were out of D batteries) am trying the music/vibrations. He's in and out of "build up" cries, but hasn't burst into the real thing yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because I REALLY could use a couple hours of sleep. But I hear him sucking his hand so I'm not optimistic. He just had a nice little nap "skin to skin" on my chest for over an hour (LOVE that). I could have fallen asleep too but am just so afraid to fall asleep with him on me.

One thing I have grown to love is watching his little hands when he's eating. They're either anxiously clenched in little fists, neatly folded together, or moving around in air as if he's conducting an orchestra in slow motion. I'm sure I'll have many more opportunities to watch his hands before the night is over.

I haven't heard a peep out of him for a few minutes now, so maybe the music/vibrations are working. So I think I'll try to fall asleep, even though I'm sure I'll be awoken (is that proper grammar, Grammy?) just as I'm drifting off to sleep.

Rough Night

So do newborns hit a major growth spurt on Day 6??? I'll have to research that. I fed Kyle 8 times from midnight until 10am! And these weren't "quiet him down" feedings...these were all the real thing. Both boobs for almost a half hour each, with me hearing lots of juicy swallowing throughout (obviously I'm sure the milk supply wasn't able to fully replenish as the feedings went on, and on, and on). And then each time when he was done and I'd burp him on my shoulder, he would attack his hands, my neck, the cloth...anything that he thought might yield milk, all the while making little pig sounds. He didn't sleep more than 15 minutes between feedings. You'd think I hadn't fed him yesterday, but he ate well (at least every three hours). The bright side is we've had so much practice that I'm now finding nursing easy and painless.

And now for the kicker. One corner of our crib makes a sqeaking sound it you move it around. We called the place that sold/assembled the crib and they said they'd come by to check it out around 7pm today. Well, I had just drifted into what might have been a nice little chunk of sleep around 8am when Jared wakes me up to tell me he thinks the crib people were at the door. What??? Apparently, they were "in the area" so thought they'd stop over a little early (11 hrs to be exact). I was NOT amused!!! And now they're coming back tomorrow night around 6pm with a whole new crib because the guy couldn't figure out the problem (meaning I'll start watching for them around 7am). So at that point I was wide awake and have been up ever since (as has Kyle...we just finished yet another feeding).

On a happy note, Jared just made really good blueberry pancakes! Plus, my chart tells me I should be feeding him 8 times today. So I guess my work here is done for the day...

Hurricane Kyle

How about that! They named a hurricane after him. It looked like a hurricane blew through his diaper earlier...poop through both his onesie and thick terry cloth sleeper, and then onto his swaddle blanket. Jared thinks he heard the explosion from the family room while Kyle was asleep in the living room. Time for his sponge bath...

Is there anything cuter than a daddy and his baby??

As (tentatively) promised...

I'm thinking a blog is a good way to keep my "core people" updated on our new life with Kyle. So here it is!

Last night was our best night yet (out of the whopping 3 we've had at home so far). Kyle slept for 3 hrs from 9-12 on Jared's chest (which allowed Jared to watch the UCONN football game and me to get some much needed sleep). Then, after literally 3 feedings in the next three hrs, he slept from 3:30 to 6:30 in the pack n play, so I got another chunk of sleep. He just had another "cluster feeding" (3 more in 3 hrs) and is back in the pack n play asleep, hopefully for another 3 hrs or so.

Today's project for us will be to give him his first sponge bath since leaving the hospital. The nurses made washing his hair look so easy...I'm sure we'll make it look as hard as possible.

And one last thing...the last three times I've changed his diaper, he's peed all over the place once exposed. Not sure how to prevent that but it sure makes a mess! But at least he's peeing and isn't dehydrated.