When there's 1 there will be a 2

No people, the title of this post does not mean I'm referring to having another child. Rather, it identifies the memorable moment Bryce created tonight.

He will be four weeks old on Thursday and his one month birthday is Saturday! It's crazy how time flies, I feel like I just got home from the hospital. Anyhow, I am trying to get Bryce to fall asleep in his bassinet around 7pm-8pm rather than falling totally asleep on me. So, I have been letting him doze off after he eats, and then I put him in his bassinet...inevitably, he cries. Sometimes he wails. I spend the next couple of hours trying to soothe him, then I feed him again and, finally, after another hour of crying after he's finished eating he falls asleep-- usually around 11pm. Anyhow, this exhausting process has been going on for the last several days. (I might add, that all day long he's a perfectly happy baby and barely let's out a peep-- these crying fits only happen during the evening.)

So, tonight I decided to try something else. I decided to give him a nice warm bath (which he LOVES), feed him, then put him down, thinking that he'll be nice and comfy and happy and he'll fall asleep easier in the bassinet. Usually I reserve his baths for the morning time, so I thought I would switch it up. Okay, so let me just tell you about the bath tonight-- you'll soon understand the title of this post. The thing about boys is that they shoot ya A LOT. Whenever we lift up that diaper, I at least get hit' 10% of the time. (Pee Pee T-Pees are really no help either....it shoots up like a fountain with a cap on when you use those.)

I am always ready for him to shoot me, especially when he's having a bath. No worries, I can handle this and I can control the direction of the shooting. What I can't control is him going number 2 in the bath. WTF?!?! Who poos in a bath? Of course my Brycie does! EWWWW! Immediately after he pees, he pooped-- in the bath tub! Yes, he did.

So, being the single mom I am this week (Sean is in Chicago for business). I pick up sopping wet Bryce, and hold his slippery body in one hand, while I'm trying to rinse out the darn tub and clean it with the other. Oh, and I think I forgot to mention, that this all happened at the end of the bath. Ugh. After five minutes of Bryce struggling and sliding around in my arm, and cleaning the tub out with the other, we started from scratch.

I'm sure Bryce will be embarrassed one day when I let him know what he did-- and probably more embarrassed to know that people actually read about it! Ha!

Ahh, the memories...I just hope this one doesn't happen again! Wow!

I have more pics, but need to charge the camera. I'll get those nursery pics posted too-- people have been asking to see it!

Lesson Learned-- Bottle Feeding

Yay! Bryce is three whole weeks today! And, at the weekly breast feeding class I attend, his weight gain this week was 10 whole ounces! Wow! So the week before he gained 12 oz and this week another 10 oz! This puts him at a whopping 7lbs 14oz! And, he's definitely getting longer too-- it's amazing how we can just literally see him growing before us.

Today was also another milestone because it was time to introduce a bottle to him. Apparently, this is how all this bottle feeding works (or this is what 'they' tell me):

1- Breast feed for the first 20 days-- your baby needs to get to know you and recognize you and also be able to latch well in order to get good nourishment.

Check. Nourishment is not a problem with our growing boy. (But you would be amazed at how many women and babies have this problem...we are certainly lucky and blessed that all is going well.)

2- Start pumping once a day at day 14. So, basically, I have to pump after Bryce eats once a day in order to build up a small supply.

Check. What a friggin hassle.

3- At day 21, let someone other than mom feed him via a bottle once a day. 'They' tell me that if you do not introduce the bottle as early as 3 weeks, then it's possible that the baby will never take a bottle. And, and if you plan on going back to work and pumping while at work, then you are out of luck if your baby doesn't take the bottle. So, to say the least, it's VERY important that Bryce take a bottle. Otherwise, we're screwed.

Check-- sort of. Let me explain the drama. At 5:30pm today, we decided to cross the bottle feeding milestone. Sean was going to have his first feeding! So I took one of the storage bags out of the freezer and defrosted it. I kept the milk chilled upon defrosting though, because 'they' tell me that babies really don't need warm milk unless he/she is just picky. Easy enough. Next, I put the defrosted milk in one of these nice and 'top rated' Dr. Brown's bottles that I got at one of my baby showers. I'm very excited because this is supposed to be so much fun for me and for Sean. (Freedom for me and bonding for Sean.) So all went well upon Sean feeding him except for one small hiccup. You see, it takes me nearly 25 minutes to feed Bryce. It took Sean five minutes (and that's generous). Yes, five short minutes. Bryce pretty much gulped the bottle. Hmmm...So, I did what any other new mom would do-- semi freak out, and then get on Babies R Us.com to look up these so called 'top rated' bottles. Sigh. So no one ever told me that I needed to order specific nipples for specific ages. The bottles that I received at my shower where 'standard' size, which means it was meant for babies 6months-12months. The difference between these and nipples for newborns is that the milk flows a lot slower through the nipple. So, it should still take Bryce at least 15 minutes to eat-- not five. I'm guessing that most of the milk just went straight down his little throat without even sucking.

We are still waiting for him to throw up...

Off to Babies R Us tomorrow for nipples...we'll retry again. I'm glad that it went well and that Bryce actually took a bottle, I just hope that we can get this bottle flow thing figured out.

Ugh. This new mom, new learnings thing is starting to get a little old.

He's Growing Up So Fast...

It's amazing how much Bryce has grown since birth. He gets another official weigh in tomorrow at my breast feeding class (Yes, I do go to the weekly meetings). Also, tomorrow officially marks his three week birthday, and I know for sure he has gotten longer, weighs more, and his little head has gotten bigger. His newborn onsies (finally) fit him perfectly. And now, instead of being frustrated that nothing fits him, I'm finding that I'm disappointed that it's only a matter of time until he'll outgrow the newborn clothes.

Although I'm actually kind of sad about how small he won't be, I'm also finding it very fun and exciting to see the little accomplishments he makes. For example, he can focus on my face. Sean and I get real close to him, and Bryce will actually study our faces. It's so fun to watch his eyes just study our eyes, nose and everything about our features. Bryce has also been trained (similar to Pavlov's dog) that mom means food. So literally, whenever I pick him up, he'll start turning his head and opening his mouth whether he's hungry or not. Tummy time is another of Bryce's favorites. Whenever Bryce isn't hungry, and thus not fussy, Sean will put him on his tummy and help him push up onto his hands. The doctor (and the web) says that learning how to do this will help him roll over and crawl faster. Bryce is really great at holding his head up for a few seconds-- we think he's so strong! Ha!

Let's address the other subject I brought up in the first paragraph-- breast feeding. Initially, I was very apprehensive in doing this, mainly because I really wasn't sure what to expect. I was never breast fed as a baby (okay, I was breast fed for a total of two weeks until my poor mom got frustrated) and Sean wasn't either, so clearly, my expectations of what to expect where limited. During the first couple of days in the hospital the nurses did a great job of helping him (and me) figure out the routine. Additionally, a lactation specialist came around to my room and gave me tips of when to start pumping, when to introduce a bottle, how many dirty diapers to count per day, etc. This specialist also has a free weekly class at the hospital where I delievered, so I decided that if this whole BF thing was going to work, I should attend at least one class. Let me just tell you how happy I was to do this-- there were almost 30 women in the class the first week I attended and their babies ranged in age from 7 days (my Bryce was the youngest) to 12 months. Tomorrow will now be the third time I'll attend the class, and Bryce will be 'weighed in' to make sure he's gaining enough weight each week. This is how the class works-- basically all the women get to know and talk to each other to gain 'best practices' if you will, and then the specialist comes around and individually answers our questions or helps us as needed. I think of this class as my support group because I don't think I would be as confident about BF if weren't for all these other women in the exact same boat as me. I have even managed to make a friend whose son is four days older than Bryce. It's nice to have someone to relate to as we are experiencing the exact same thing at the same time. The only downside is that I go back to work in November whereas she has until January.

I really think that for me BF is one of the most awesome and special things a new mom can experience. I think it has totally bonded Bryce and me. Also, I have started pumping, so tomorrow, Sean is officially allowed to feed him once a day with a bottle. He's pretty excited about the whole thing as am I, because it will give me a little break of Bryce's tough latch :) Stay tuned as I'll keep you all in the loop on how well Bryce actually takes a bottle! Hopefully it will be a success!!

Babies are NOT like Dogs

So I would just like to have a serious discussion with the person who said that dogs (or cats) prepares you for the responsibility of having a child. 'Yah, not so much' would be my response to this person.

When my little precious yorkie, Rudy, came to live with me at the very young age of 12 weeks, we became best buds. (Nevermind he absolutely hates strangers and he may nip at you if you try to pet him). Rudy was a lot of work in the beginning, or so I thought-- but over the last six and half years, the work has become minimal. When he's hungry, I scoop a bit of dog food and put it in his bowl. When he needs to go to the bathroom, he's has about a 95% success rate of using the backyard to relieve himself. When I go to work or need to run errands, he can be left alone for most of the day, without even a thought. When he needs a bath (every two weeks-- no judgement), I either throw him in the sink and bathe him myself, or off to the groomer he goes. And, most importantly, when he needs to sleep at night-- he sleeps all through the night in his little home. I never have to get up during the night to feed or change him! So awesome!

I just wanted to point out that the wise person who once said that pets are a good preparation for having kids obviously never had kids of his or her own.

Here are some more pics:

Who do you think dressed him and took pics this day?

Love it!

Raise your hands in the air...

Mom and son love our sun glasses!

Happy grammy Krenz! My awesome mom stayed with us for the first two weeks, and she just left last Friday. Not to worry, she'll be back in October. So much help :)

Bryce's First Bath

Upon Bryce's belly button graduation, we thought it appropriate to give him a proper bath the next morning. Sean and I and my mom were all anticipatory of a big wailing/crying/screaming fit-- as this is what they told us to be prepared for in the hospital. My mom, however, told me that all of us always loved our baths because of the warm water.

Well, it turns out that Bryce loves his baths too!!! It took him a minute to get used to the water, but all went well. I will say it went A LOT better than those previous sponge baths where I think I got more wet than Bryce!!!

This is Bryce staring at the faucet of water as the bath tub was filling.

He has taken a liking to his hands! They must be pretty yummy!

The other classic Bryce pose-- waving his hands in the air!!!

Love the belly sweet baby!

Belly Button Graduation & Birth Certificate!!!

Congratulations Bryce!!! His belly button fell out last Thursday, exactly two weeks from his date of birth. It's still healing a bit, and at first we thought he had an outie, but we think it may be an innie!

Gotta love this photo. One of his nightly crying fits.

It's official!!! He has a birth certificate!! Now we're waiting for his social security number!!!

New Normals

Top Ten New Normals List:

(10) 8am is the time I used to get to work. Now, 12pm is the time I finally take a shower.

(9) My running club is where I used to meet people. Now, my weekly breast feeding class is where I meet new people with things in common (i.e. babies).

(8) My living room used to be decorated to my liking. Now, my living room is full of bouncy seats, swings, changing tables, and diapers. (it's still to my liking though)

(7) Hopping in the car, running to the Wawa (it's the equivalent to QuickTrip for all you Texas folk) to grab a Diet Dr. Pepper. Now, not going to the Wawa and suffering without the caffeine fix, or better yet having Sean run there for me.

(6) Life without a boppy (I didn't even know what this was). Now, I don't think I could function without the boppy.

(5) Not ever even thinking about forgetting a baby bag. Now, constantly forgetting the baby bag and going back home to retrieve it. (Ugh.)

(4) Never changing a diaper in my life. (yes, I know, pathetic.) Now, timing myself to see how fast I can change Bryce's diaper to prevent any type of crying fit. Success rate of 50%.

(3) Peacefully sleeping through the night with a bed time of 9pm and a wake time of 5am to go the gym. Now, waking up every two to four hours during the night and not going to bed until midnight or 2am most nights. Forget about the gym.

(2) Never thinking about a set schedule to operate around. Now, trying to predict Bryce's need for food, so we can go and run errands and get out of the house for a couple of hours.

(1) Hating to see people breast feeding public. Now, I'm the one breast feeding in public (no shame).

The Little Things

The things that used to be sooo easy have now become the little milestones with a kiddo. Case in point: The doctor's office. The first appointment last week was a breeze, probably a bit too breezy. Bryce was wide awake, and there was not a peep from him...ah, the perfect baby. He weighed 6lbs 10oz at this appointment, which was great because upon leaving the hospital he lost 6oz, weighing only 6lbs 8oz. Here's a pic of his first weigh-in:

Alas, for every up there is a down. This week, our pediatrician appointment was a little earlier in the day, and Bryce was going on 3 hours since his last feeding (usually this is not a problem in the morning because he sleeps most mornings and is up most evenings/nights). Well, not this day. Cry cry cry. Hmm...more like Wail, wail, wail. The good news is that Bryce is well on his way to becoming a big guy-- he gained 12oz this week. I'll provide some perspective for you all that do not realize the significance of this: The goal for the second week is to just be back to birth weight, which would mean that all Bryce needed to gain would be a mere 3oz between week one and week two. He was just trying to show off his eating and gaining weight ability when we were all surprised that he gained the whole 12 oz. This puts him well into the 7lb category. It's funny because although this weight gain was fantastic, he still remains in the 15th percentile in terms of weight. So needless to say, the whole breast feeding thing, although a major challenge for me, is really working well for Bryce. Yay on the little wins!!!

The second little accomplishment happened just this morning. We went to the grocery store! Let me tell you that this store is not very baby friendly-- there are not baby car seat holders on those carts, which made it a bit challenging. So Bryce car seat went into the cart (leaving about 6 inches of space for groceries. Nonetheless, it's a little win for me. I'm sure I'll figure it out better as I go.

Here are some pics we've taken since he's been at home--

The ah, natural look-- Me, Bryce, and Rudy-- all very tired since Bryce decided to stay up until 3am the night before. (And then he was up at 5:30am again...ugh)

Bryce's monkey outfit.

I love to comb his hair. Very rarely does it stay this way though.

Bryce is a true Texan at heart. Notice the boot on his onsie and the fringe on his pants :)

Just a cutie. (Messed up hair-- going for the Ryan Seacrest look).

Car seat! He LOVES the car! Thank goodness. The pacifier however, is unfortunately, not our saving grace. It's very hard for him to take this.

Catching Flies

This is Bryce, yesterday, September 12th-- he's 10 days old. I only video his face because it was too funny to see him sleep. A lot of the time when he sleeps he sleeps with his mouth open! Hilarious! He's already taking after me :)

Tummy Time

Bryce's first tummy time. I don't do a great job of video-ing because I was moving pretty slowly, however, you will see why I grabbed the video camera. His little toothpick legs are hilarious!