Belly Picts

38 weeks
36 weeks
33 weeks
30 weeks
15 weeks
10 weeks
5 weeks
I know these are SUPER late, but I thought some of you may have wanted to see my belly progression for my pregnancy.

Weekly Photos

Week 8
Week 7
Week 6
Week 5

My Baby is 8 Weeks Old!

Hard to believe two months has already flown by. Our little chunker sure has grown fast! He definitely has more of a personality now, cooing and smiling, grumpy face and grunting, and stealing our hearts every minute of the day. This month has been a lot easier than last, as there is finally some "reward" to the hard work. I have been garage saleing up a storm and have found some great deals on toys and outfits as well as a free power wheels dump truck (that he can't use quite yet...). Progress I've seen in month two:
1) Seth can hold his head up a lot better
2) Seth's personality has become quite a bit more noticible (my guess is that he is a meloncholy/phlagmatic as he loves to take naps, gets grumpy if fussed over, and likes his space)
3) Seth sleeps almost through the night - cluster feeding until about 8pm then out until 2am, feeding, then sleeps until about 6am
4) Diaper explosions are a lot less frequent - either mommy and daddy are getting the hang of it, or baby is taking it easy on us
5) Major growth spurt - I officially packed up 80% of his 0-3 month clothes and have moved on to 3-6 month range. The shocker was that the first time he wore his 3-6 month clothes, my friend commented that it didn't look like it would be fitting for that much longer!
P.S. For you doubters on the last blog - I'm going to have Luke video him saying (screaming) "hungy" one of these nights while I change his diaper and then I'll post it. There is no doubt about it! The other words are a little ify and haven't been consistent, but he definitely knows the word that gets him more food (his little swollen belly is proof of that)!

He Can Talk!

Well, that is the conclusion I have come to. A few weeks ago I was saying "hi, baby!" and he said "Hi!" back. I thought it was just a coincidence. Then, Luke was saying "hi, baby!" a few days ago, and baby said "Hi!" again. This morning he said "Dad" and what sounded like "I love you". The other phrases are when he cries, he says "hungy" (hungry) and "angy" (angry). He is seven weeks old today. I know it's a little young to be talking, but the more he does it, the more I'm convinced it's real and not just a coincidence that his coos sound like real words!

Rude Awakenings...

Just when you think you have the diapering thing down, it explodes in your face...literally! I awoke this morning pleased that I only had to get up once last night to feed baby. I thought to myself that I should feed him and then change him, but I thought he may be sitting in poop so decided to change him first. Bad idea. He immediately peed on me, I yelped and he peed again - IN MY MOUTH. So, I was wimpering and Luke came to investigate and took over so I could wash my face, hair, and brush my teeth. Seth ended up having three simultaneous explosions, and two outfits later he is now happily snoozing by my side. Happy Tuesday!

Finally, Feeling Like "Mommy"

For a long time, I did not feel like a mom. I was in "survival mode" - trying to get the basics down, and not really getting to enjoy things. Seth has finally started becoming more of a little person - cooing, smiling, and "talking" in baby talk. Yesterday, as I had my hands full - lugging the baby carrier, diaper bag, camera, and purse I saw my shadow and it really dawned on me that I am a mom. I think the reason it took so long was that I had waited so long for this...seven years - through which there were many ups and downs, disappointments, as well as the loss of our first child. It was hard to believe that my dream finally did come true. I'm very blessed. There is no better feeling in the world then knowing that not only do I help sustain my little guy by feeding him and meeting his basic needs, but I love that he looks for me when I leave the room and seems to genuinely miss me. As the intern at his doctor's office noted yesterday "this baby sure likes to look at his mommy!" Yes, that would be me. =)

Settling In

Baby holding up his head
5 Week Picture

Life as a mom has now started to settle down. It is very true that your first month with baby goes by as sort of a blur because it's nothing more than survival mode - feed baby, change diapers, get baby to stop being fussy...all the while trying to remember to eat, comb your hair, and shower. These are the days of living in pajamas, avoiding the scale, and at least two loads of laundry daily. There are also a lot of rewards - getting your first smile from baby, watching him sleep (sometimes laughing while sleeping), see baby go from fussy to cooing, watching baby get big chubby cheeks and knowing that I had something to do with it. Some things I have learned the past 4 weeks:
1) Schedules - seems no matter how hard we try to get baby on a schedule he has his own...life became much easier when we just let him have his way on this
2) Nursing - a nightmare at first, very time consuming, but I know it's what is best for him, and how could I feel like a better mom then when I'm nursing?
3) Cluster feeding - something I wish I had known about before, last week he did this and I had no clue what was going on. Basically he was hungry all the time at night, no matter how much I nursed him. He seemed to want to nurse for two hours straight. Turns out he was trying to "stock up" so he could sleep longer at night - a very good thing. When I started feeding him instead of giving him his Nuk out of frusteration, or thinking I wasn't giving him enough milk he ended up sleeping 4-5 hours straight. He's been doing this pretty consistently the past few nights, nursing for a long time and then only getting up twice to feed. Pretty nice!

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