Hands!

Somebody found his hand on Thursday night!

He was laying on the bed between my legs and we noticed his right hand above his head. His eyes were following it back and forth. It was so fun to see! His hands wiggles and he thought it was the most amazing thing to watch.

Since then, he's spent a little time each day examining his right hand and how it moves. So far, he only thinks he has one hand because the left hand is still waiting to be discovered.

Stealing Kitty's Toys

We accidentally discovered some of Connor's favorite toys. We were cleaning up the living room and laid him down on the floor next to a pile of Kitty's toys. There was a little bell on a string that we jingled next to him and then we wondered if he could hold the string. Success! He'll hold on to the string and jingle the bell! It's so cute!

And since that worked, I pulled out a little jingle stuffed banana that Kitty plays with sometimes and he likes that too! Look at that smile!

2 Months Old!

Time flies! You're already 2 months old!

This month's photo shoot was pretty funny. You spit up twice and then pooped twice just while playing on the calendar!

::Yawn::

Look at your little tummy now! You've been growing so much!

Week 8 started happily when we noticed that you're starting to smile more. You make these little giggle noises that we love!

Here you are showing off your new booties that your great-grandma made for you. She also made the blanket for cousin Ryan that he passed down to you.

We did our first art project this week! It was a little messy, but I set you up on the bathroom counter so you could have a bath right after we finished.

Mommy mailed your cards out to some family & friends and they loved them!

I wanted to have you pose in your pumpkin costume, but it was still WAY too big for you. I bought it when I was pregnant and didn't know how small you would be. I was able to grab one photo in it before you got upset!

You've been learning to entertain yourself and play more often this week. You absolutely love your play mat. Mommy & Daddy love to hear you giggle and play with all the hanging toys.

On Friday, we went over to Woodfield to do some shopping. While we were in line at Baby Gap, you had a crazy blow out! I had to rush to the family room on the other side of the mall to get you changed. After I got you cleaned up, I saw this sign and thought it was pretty funny.

Saturday, we decided to take you to Long Grove for your first time. We love the festivals each year, but we figured your first time would be better when it was less crowded. You dressed in a comfy fleece and bundled up for the fall weather. As usual, you slept through most of the excursion. Mommy grabbed a quick photo when you fell asleep with your paci in your hand.

Hanging out in the backyard

Two Month Stats:
Weight: 8 lbs, 12 oz. (5%)
Height: 22.25 inches (25%)
Head: 25%

The doctor was very surprised and happy with your weight gain this month! You gained almost 2 pounds! You grew an inch and we predicted that with the way all your pants and sleeves were getting too short. The doctor said you're spitting up is perfectly fine since you're gaining weight. You're still a skinny guy, but you're happy & healthy!

Leaves

Ever since the leaves started falling, I've been dying to throw Connor in a pile of leaves and take photos. Right after I fed him last week (when he's happy), I put him in the grass and had some fun with the crunchy leaves.

He slept through a lot of my photo shoot...

...but peeked open for a minute!

Yawn!

A silly smile!

Preparing to be a working mom

I didn't think it would be this hard. I really didn't. I thought I'd be bored at home and ready to go back to work.

But I'm not.

I don't want to go back. I just called the daycare today to finalize the start date and it's starting to set in. I have 2.5 short weeks left and it's going to go by too fast.

He's turning into such an amazing little person and I want to spend every minute with him. :::tears::: I haven't been away from him for more than 2 or 3 hours to run errands and now it's going to be more like 10 hours.

We bought this house with the intention that I would always have to work. At the time, I was fine with it and didn't ever think I would change my mind. Now, I feel a little differently. I DO want to give him everything he needs and give him with a great life. If that means I have to work, I need to be ok with it.

Now I just need to keep repeating that over and over in my head.

I'm sure this is the first of many future posts about how hard this is going to be. Sigh...

Beautiful

A mark for every breath you took, every blink, every sleepy yawn. One for every time you sucked your thumb, waved hello, closed your eyes, and slept in the most perfect darkness. One for every time you had the hiccups. One for every dream you dreamed within me. It isn't very pretty anymore. Some may even think it's ugly. That's OK. It was your home. It held you until my arms could, and for that, I will always find something beautiful in it.

How many...

outfits can a baby go through in one day?

A lot.

Between spitting up, peeing, and the occasional blow-out, there's a lot of changing going on!

I guess we're definitely getting enough use out of these newborn clothes before he quickly grows out of them!

7 Weeks & a New Kitty

Yes, they do! Being a mommy to you is a lot more work than I thought and it's a 24/7 job. You're becoming quite a Mommy's boy now that you're a little older. You look at me all the time and tend to be calmed down the most when I hold you. It's so strange to be relied on by someone like that and I like it. I'm pretty much with you every second of the day and I've grown very attached to you!

Every morning after your 9:00 feeding, we play a game I call Faces where you make all kinds of cute little expressions and I make them back at you. I think it's your happiest time of the day!

This week, Daddy went out of town for one night, so it was my first time all alone with you overnight. Grandma & Grandpa came over for dinner and to help with your cranky time on the first night. I don't know how this happened, but Grandma managed to get you to fall asleep on your changing pad while she rubbed your back!

After your cranky time, we had a pretty good night of sleep. But by the next afternoon, I started to get pretty tired and you weren't very happy. Here's a silly photo of you after multiple spit-ups and I was ready for Daddy to come home!

On Thursday, I started to notice that you were able to see some of your toys and things around the room. Time to put together your play mat!

So far, you love it! The lights, music, and moving animals keep you very entertained.

Saturday, I decided to do a mini photo shoot for Aunt Julie with the Iowa gear she gave you. I got you dressed up and sent her a few photos before the game.

That night, we went to Aunt Julie's engagement party and met a lot of soon-to-be Uncle Sam's family. As usual, you were the center of attention!

I hate how I look here, but our profiles look really cool as we look at each other.

Sunday, we went to Aunt Julie's house to meet her new kitty, Pilot. Pilot is still a little sick after being adopted, so you couldn't get too close. He's very cute and you'll get to spend more time with him soon!

Holy growth spurt

Wow. All of a sudden, he's huge!

I can feel how much heavier he is. His little skinny ankles and legs are starting to get a little chunky. His tummy is getting more round and it' so fun to rub! His head is getting more of a shape at the top. The newborn clothes are getting too short (but still wide!) and we'll have to be moving to the 0-3 month size soon.

It's so weird how quickly time goes by and how fast babies grow into little people. Less than 2 months ago, I didn't even have a baby to hold and now he seems so heavy! It's really an amazing experience.

Sleep when the baby sleeps

People always say that, but is it possible?

I just had my first nap since Connor was 1 week old. And even that one nap took a lot of work! I laid in bed with my eyes closed and played the paci game for about 30 minutes before he fell asleep. The nap felt great, but I almost feel more tired now and I feel like I got nothing accomplished today. If only we had more time in the day, I could make room for a nap more often...

The hat

Baby hats are so freaking cute. But now I get why you buy them and don't use them very often. They fall off, babies pull them off, or they fall over their eyes! I realized I still had this one that hadn't been used, so I figured it was time for a mini photo shoot to model it.

Don't I look cute?

Showing off the profile : )

The Mom Chop?

I noticed that a lot of my friends did the "wife chop" after they got married. They grew their hair out for the wedding and then cut off a good amount after they became a wife. I thought about doing it, but I still loved my long hair and was too scared to do anything drastic.

During the next few years, I started to convince myself that I would do a "mom chop" when I got pregnant. I figured I'd be extra tired and wouldn't want to have to mess with drying such long hair. But when I got pregnant, I was still too scared to do it. I still had an attachment to my long hair. Every time I've cut a few inches off in the past, I didn't like it and wished it was long again. I kept telling my hair stylist I wanted to do it, but I had to be mentally ready. So I assumed I'd do the chop once I had the baby and had even less time to do my hair.

But now I do have a baby and I still haven't chopped! It's getting time for a hair cut and I don't think I can do it! I've been wearing my hair in a ponytail more, but it's just so easy to throw it up for breastfeeding. I love that I can just put it in a messy bun or ponytail to run out if I have to. The other thing is that I hate all the little pieces that fall out of a ponytail. And when I get back to working out hard core, that bugs me SO much!

So I think I'm still attached to my long hair! I'm still not ready to let it go!

Week 6 and the growth spurt

The week started out great! It was absolutely beautiful outside and felt like summer as the leaves started to fall. We took a trip to the Starbucks in Dominicks for my first pumpkin spice frappuccino of the year. Yum! The woman making the drink fell in love with you!

On Wednesday, we had a lunch date at Olive Garden with Andrea & Mason. You both slept through the whole thing! When we got home from lunch, everything changed. You went crazy! All of a sudden, my precious little calm baby was more cranky than I've ever seen. You were screaming and crying for hours and I couldn't do anything to make it better. Thursday was exactly the same and I was starting to wonder what happened to your cute little personality! As Friday began, I started to do some research on growth spurts and realized you had all the symptoms. You were eating a little more than normal, extra fussy, and then Friday you had some really long naps including during our trip to Einstein's with Grandpa.
Luckily, by Saturday, you were back to normal and Mommy was happy again!

Saturday night was your first Yom Kippur and we went to Grandma & Grandpa's house to break the fast. As usual, everyone begged to hold you! Here's Aunt Julie & you...

Grandma playing with you
Great-Grandpa singing you a lullaby

As week 6 comes to a close, I'm proud to say that we survived your first growth spurt. We came out of it with a few big things:
• I learned some new ways to calm you down and help you if your tummy hurts
• If you're cranky, all we have to do is put you in your car seat and take you out and you'll fall asleep
• All of a sudden, your sleeves on your clothes are getting too short! I can't believe you're growing out of your newborn clothes already!