Matching jowels

(I'm referring to the T-shirt!) :-)

Grandma Julie

Craig's mom came into town just after the holidays for a quick visit. Now, Miles only has Mimi (my stepmom) left to meet!

Two months

I'll be moving to this format very soon-monthly, instead of weekly photos.

Nana comes to town

My mom finally made it out to visit! She was here for Christmas week and we thoroughly enjoyed having her around for baby holding. She was a great lap for baby naps. I'll miss her help! Interestingly, she had a job interview while her and was offered the position. So, she has a lot of planning and organizing to work on. We want her to move out here...so, keep your eye on the prize Nana. If you get discouraged, see below.

Holding our breath

Two friends of ours have come to our aid. Russin lent us a different car seat to try and Suzi lent us the warm fuzzy wrap you see on it. So far, the two seem to be working. The car seat has a deeper seat and easier straps to adjust. The amazing thing, the crying fits have decreased dramatically. In fact, (knock on wood) they are almost non-existent. We can even put him in it while he's awake without any screaming. I don't know if you can fully appreciate how amazing and wonderful this is. For the first time, I can actually imagine leaving the house. Yes, leaving the house. For walks, appointments, whatever! We'll never know if it was coincidental timing and he was actually on the verge of liking his other car seat, but I am not about to tempt fate. As far as I'm concerned, this car seat is magic. Pure, unadulterated magic.

Merry Christmas

Eight week redo

Okay, so I realized, the whole, entire reason I chose this chair for weekly photos was to have a frame of reference for size. Ha. So, what do I do? I ended up cropping the shots so they only showed the baby. I blame lack of sleep. Anyway, going forward, I will be showing the chair. How else will we know how big he's getting? Of course, now I'm stuck with this chair if I want to continue the plan....hmmm..

Eight weeks old

Well, here we are at eight weeks old. Hard to believe. I still feel like I'm stuck in some kind of crazy time warp. Some days, I'm still lucky to get dressed by noon. Which brings me to my current dilemma: finding myself again. It is so easy to get lost in the demands of parenthood, especially with a young infant. I'm currently in negotiations to remember the importance of taking care of myself. It's so easy to get lost in putting the baby's needs first ALL the time that I often push myself way down on the totem pole. We're making progress though. Miles is doing so much better, he's really turning into a baby. His awake times are full of smiles and cooing. He is so talkative now-extremely charming. The crying fits seem to be abating. We have had very few these days. The only crying now is related to being hungry, tired or being placed in the evil, evil car seat (my friend Russin is letting us borrow a different model for a bit to see if that makes a difference-stay tuned!). Actually, even the car rides have gotten better. I really think we've turned a corner. Big, huge sigh of relief. With the holidays these past few months, we've had a chance to try our hand at lots of dinner parties. Miles is great. He sleeps, eats and then gets held by lots of volunteers. It's a wonderful feeling to raise a baby amongst such great family and friends!

Future best friends

Our friends, Russin and Dave, had a baby almost exactly one month after Miles. I'm sure there are lots of play groups in our future! Right now, just lots of sleeping.

Seven weeks

Things continue to get better and better, plus, he's more and more smiley and that certainly smoothes over any of the crying bouts we might have. We're still trying to work out a nighttime routine, since this is generally the trickiest time. Thankfully, he's a good sleeper at night, waking only to nurse and then goes back to sleep. Knock on wood that this will continue! Some major milestones this week: he gave me a few nights with 4 hour stretches of sleep-felt like heaven. Also, yesterday, he took a three hour nap in the cosleeper. Again- felt like heaven. I am also figuring out a strategy with the stroller/car seat combo. I try to head out when he has a full belly and/or is ready for a nap. Then, the protesting is not as fierce and he sleeps while I walk the dogs. I think I made it out twice this week so far. This is a huge deal everyone!
He still struggles with daytime napping and being able to settle himself and then stay asleep. Fortunately, he's been more accepting of the pacifier lately, which helps him relax. He really fights falling asleep, but we're patient and commited to helping learn to soothe himself and fall/stay asleep easily.
He's tracking objects and pictures like crazy. Craig (with the help of some coworkers) made some wonderful graphic cards that he enjoys. He has also started tracking our faces when we're talking to him or moving around him. He's very chatty and smiley first thing in the morning, which is a delighful way to start the day. Overall, he continues to be a darling and cuddly baby!

This was my attempt to catch a smile. It's really hard to be the one trying to elicit the smile AND capture it with the camera. It's more of a bemused expression, but trust me, the smile was there!

Impromptu gathering

A fun night with Mary, Sam and a baby burrito.

Uncle Alex and Aunt April

Alex and April are visiting from Oregon, so Miles had a chance to meet them. I think it went well.

Some day

....we'll master the Moby wrap. In the meantime, I love our efforts!

Boppy thief

Updates

A few quick updates.

Thumb: hasn't found it again, but seems pretty satisfied with his fist for now
Crying: much, much better-still have some bouts, but overall, we've seen improvements
Sleeping: I've actually had two nights, in a row, with a four hour stretch in it!! Naptimes are still hard, as he still struggles with settling down/staying relaxed and asleep. I haven't given up hope and we are trying hard to help him in these areas.
Pacifier: he'll take it at random times, but still hasn't developed a love for it
Carseat: hates it

And now for the good stuff:

Smiles: they are more and more frequent-and extremely charming
Skin: the baby acne is almost cleared up
Hair: he's growing fuzz on the top of his head! It is very, very blonde.
Disposition overall: he's still a super cuddly, sweet baby. His awake, alert times are lovely and he really is starting to enjoy the company of people.

New talent

Bubble blowing!

Six Weeks

This has been an incredibly trying week. We've had several nights of inconsolable crying, combined with 1 1/2 hour wake up intervals at night. He finds it very hard to settle himself and we're trying hard to help him with that. However, the light at the end of the tunnel has appeared. Last night, I had two 3 hour stretches of sleep and today, there has been very little screaming (of course, the real test arrives at 5 pm, since the evening is the truly hard time). He is getting better at soothing himself, but still needs our help to get him started. And today, the miracle that almost made me cry....he found his thumb. He only sucked it for a few minutes, but he found it and went back to it several times. This will be a huge help because the pacifier is given the cold shoulder every time it's offered. He is sincerely offended that we put that thing anywhere NEAR his mouth. Anyway, I feel a bit more sane today and I've heard the six week mark is magical. There has been quite a bit of fun interacting today. Also, we're getting a little body work for Miles to help work out the kinks left behind from his birth. He was pummeled in a very weird position for quite some time. I think it's helping.

He continues to outgrow the length of his outfits rather quickly. I'm running out of clothes and need to go dig through the 3-6 month box already. I'm curious to see how long he is at the next visit.

He really digs the new set-up for photos:

Check out my double chin!

Cute outfit

Just for fun:

Yellow baby

Miles' first baby doll, a gift from Aunt Stephanie. It is made of a soft, velour fabric, so it's extremely squishy and lovable.

Experiment

Well, we're taking the plunge and trying cloth diapers. Things have changed so much in terms of reusable diapering and I can't believe how user-friendly they are. We settled on trying the brand FuzziBunz for now. They consist of a waterproof outer layer, fleece lining and then absorbent inserts. All of this finishes with an easy snap system. The whole thing has to be washed each time it's used, so we'll see how I fare with so much laundry. It's always fun in the beginning when something's new, check back in a couple of weeks though! Anyway, I found some second hand and then bought the rest through a factory seconds/imperfections store online. So, I was able to get 12 diapers at killer prices. I'm not sure how the math will pan out with water usage, but I do know we'll be cutting back on the amount we send to the landfill-that has to count for something, right?! Besides, look how cute:

Proof

They're still a little elusive, but we do indeed have smiling! So worth the wait.

Biased opinion alert

Cutest baby in the world!

So close

He still wants nothing to do with a pacifier, but really needs extra sucking. Here, he found his fist. I know lots of you will have dissenting opinions, but I really hope he finds his thumb. There, I said it.

Five weeks!

He was in such a great mood this morning and really enjoyed sitting up to survey his kingdom. He is getting more and more alert every day, which is fun. The crying/fussing jags are a bit less now and that's a relief. Part of it is maturity and I think part of it is that we're a little better at reading signals and being proactive. Plus, I do think he was having tummy trouble, which is also easing up a bit. Less gas/hiccups/rumbling. Unfortunately, we're struggling with a stuffy nose right now. There aren't any other symptoms, so I'm not sure if it's a little cold, dry air, allergies or what. If it doesn't get better, we'll try a humidifier and air purifier. It makes sleeping a bit difficult, so there haven't been any good, long naps today. Could make for an interesting evening...we shall see!

Cute baby alert

The chair

Is earning it's keep and getting serious mileage. serious mileage. Craig gets to enjoy cuddle time most evenings, while I run around with my hands free....woo hoo!

New move

Miles seems to like this new move when all else fails, especially if he's fussy. He was busy giving us some pretty silly faces too. Observe:

Baby Bjorn

Step one: put sleepy baby in carrier and go for a walk


Step two: carefully put yourself in 'the chair' and peel carrier off sleeping baby:



Step three: enjoy a sweet, sleeping baby snuggled up on your chest