smile of the day

Daddy flew off to a conference for the day (out the door at 4:30am and in the door at 10:30pm) and Mommy took some extra pictures to make sure he didn't miss anything. So here are the smiles of the day:

so smiley

and he woke up giggling this morning...

1 month, 3 weeks, and 3 days old

aiden n cousin fotos

Here is the photo extravaganza from all of Aiden's christmas cuddling:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/94324507@N00/kX7y03

first xmas

Here's baby looking at the flashy xmas lights:
Here's baby looking too cool for this hoodie:
Here's baby looking like his overalls are going to swallow him up:
Baby's first Christmas was full of fun! He made friends with his cousins... some seemed scared of him, some only wanted to see if he had anything to eat, and some thought he was a girl. He will be the munchkin of the bunch for a while, but it will be fun when he can play with them. Here's video snippets of the holiday extravaganza - three big parties (xmas eve eve, xmas eve, and xmas):

or click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXPHb5KX2ew

what do you want?

All Aiden wants...

Or visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqNVPHW5Uhk

social smiler

We took Aiden to his first family party to start off the holiday last night. He slept all the way there. He literally smiled and gave us some coo joy when dad zoomed out of the driveway and then closed his eyes and fell asleep with a smile on his face. He ate in cousin Daniel's cute nursery right after we got there, and then joined the party. He was alert most of the time and the first time someone cooed at him, he smiled and cooed right back. He charmed em... He had em tricked that he was an angel baby until it was time to go. He didn't want to leave the party until he showed off his lungs a little bit, but as soon as we started walking, he stopped talking. It was so nice to see everyone (Thanks to Tara and Chip!) and have a nice holiday dinner. We can't wait to see everyone else soon.

bumbo baby

Aiden likes his Bumbo... He's almost really ready for it.. Still can't get that kid to really smile for the camera...

healthy mom

I had my healthy mom check up today. She said she could barely tell I had a baby. That's good news. I was a crazy photographer mom and didn't have any photos to show the doctor - hard to believe, huh! She made me promise to email her some. We had steak to celebrate after it took me over 40 minutes to get home in the snow (usually a 15 min trip). Yes, baby had eaten all of my sleeping milk while I was away, but I pumped most of it back right after I walked in the door.

hey listen up

cheek wranglin'

Aiden-the-cheek-wrangler is really full of expression lately...some identifiable, others crazed. His big chubby cheeks seem to be in his control now and he is proud of his flappy chin. We won't call it a double chin because it's not actually full of fat - yet. Most of these expressions are paired with some sort of grunt that makes you think of an old man snoring.

Here's a whole series snapped all within the same few minutes:






There was a sneeze in here somewhere:

big baby

Our baby is growing up! He has officially grown out of his first newborn outfit. It was labeled baby just in case we forgot and it had pockets. This is his half smile sneaking out...getting ready to laugh at mommy for fussing over how big he's getting.

go pats!

Go Pats!

I've never seen him do a better football player expression. His padded chest is thanks to his big fuzzy jumper under that tshirt. We're watching the Pats play today in the sleety rain (J's already shoveled twice today so the driveway doesn't become a big ice sheet - I think he has a grand total of 4 hours of shoveling since Friday). We had a big outing on Friday, since it was clear, for my work's holiday party. It was fun to introduce Aiden to everyone, and we lasted longer than I expected (thanks to a pumped bottle). Then yesterday we went out for some more xmas shopping. We're really getting brave about getting out and about. He is usually a good calm baby and we always have some milk on back up. The next step is attempting to take him out on my own.

let it snow!

It's the perfect time of year to snuggle up inside and watch the flakes fall...

Or visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_-dVr-2f6c

day in the life

Hard to tell when one day ends and another begins, but let's say a day begins at say 6am when mommy scoops up fussy hungry baby from his inclined swing (since sleeping flat on his back doesn't work out for long) and gives him a big meal while basking in the stinky diaper smell (because changing him before he eats leads to quivering lip crying which tears at mommy's heart strings)... by the time we get to the diaper change the sun is rising.
From his changing pad, Aiden loves to look at the bright colors on the curtains, and then when mommy peeks them open, stare off at the formerly colorful, now icy trees. After we smell so fresh and so clean, we creep back in bed to cuddle with daddy. Daddy gets goin on to work and the clock starts ticking for eating either every hour until around 1pm (when he snores in my arms in a milk drunk stooper, but if you put him down he immediately wants another shot or two) or he has a normal baby clock to eat every two hours until daddy gets home. We sometimes sing songs, get in some tummy time, and most recently he will hang out snoozing in his sling (giving mommy two hands to type and even put dishes in the dishwasher without popping him in his seat). He is still in training though and only tolerates it occasionally (He's never liked being bundled - no swaddles either - must be able to kick at all times - He has even kicked his Kick-n-Play bouncey seat toys that activate the music once or twice)

If it's a really eventful day we'll change outfits twice due to pooplosions and mommy will get in some amazing diaper change documentation. If we're really, really lucky the ups guy will drop off something or the neighbor will show up with a gift and scare mommy into thinking that she must sew some curtains for the side door immediately or risk exposing herself from across her own home. Daddy arrives home and in super dooper daddy mode will help change his diapy, sometimes he saves the best for daddy. Then some days Aiden gets a bath, then in super fuzzy crazy hair heapy dumpy mode he will bounce on dad's lap while mom gets her shower.

After dinner, dad is inspired by Jeopardy to play a mean game of baby trivia (which consists of questions like "Do polar bears live in the Artic?" Say "A" if true or "Waah" if false - baby always wins if dad doesn't screw up the choices and then we celebrate - I think we're inadvertently praising him for giving us a little cry.... might have to rethink that one) Sometimes we will watch the sparkly christmas tree lights or the snow falling through the window. Then the power feeding is on before bed time for mommy. He eats and eats and when he's finally milk drunk, mom passes him off to daddy and immediately tries to go to sleep as quickly as possible. Daddy is armed with pumped milk and they watch scary movies together for 3-4 hours. Then mommy is back on duty around 2am or 3am for eating if we're lucky every two hours. Then it all starts over again for another cuddle bug day.

photo-o-rama

one

It's been one month, one week, and one day since one big day for our little one. There will be many firsts before this little guy turns one. He's lost about one ounce from his chubby cheeks and about one inch from his pointy head. He sleeps for at least one hour at night (I'm exaggerating, he's a better sleeper every day). He's been gaining the expected one ounce a day. He has smiled at least one time in response to us. We are looking forward to one memorable year.

big day out

Ok, so maybe three hours out of the house doesn't qualify as a "day" out, but we spent all day planning, pumping, and packing to go out yesterday. I wanted steak and these ridiculous honey butter rolls from that steak place I always forget the name of... I think I need iron, so that explains the steak craving. The honey butter rolls were eaten in moderation especially because Aiden decided he wanted to eat before the second batch arrived. The milk I had pumped into bottles was technically my "sleeping milk" (We've tried to give me between three to four straight hours of sleep a night by pumping a few extra ounces for J to feed him in the first late night feeding), so I instead took him to the clean restroom and stood in the big stall to feed him. We danced around to four country music songs as he ate. It wasn't that much of a pain, but I couldn't help but think that it would be easier to just give him the bottle or feed him with my wrap at the table. I don't know why it would be such a big deal to feed him at the table, but I know some people would raise their eyebrows... but then again with the wrap how would they even know what I'm doing. I think I may just not care and after I've had a chance to practice using my wrap I'm not going to worry about feeding in public. We also made it over to the hospital nursing moms shop because I needed an obscure port cap part for my pump and I picked up some washable nursing pads - which will either be the best new purchase to help the environment or a smelly disaster, the vote is still out. I also picked up some new nursing bras, and somehow in my over tired delirium I picked up a size D sports bra type - Uh, not good, but as it turns out it fits just fine... ha!

exclamation points

J and I have kept up with the foostinky and foo chart (it's more of a timeline list of all intake and output) since we were in the hospital. It's mostly for me to keep up with which side is primed for feeding based on where I left off last time or how long he worked on which side. We also wanted to be sure he was pooing on track with the doc's expectations. We are supposed to keep track of any color or texture changes, but he's a friend of digestive bacteria and it's always been the requisite yellow ricey poo - I call it rancid grey poupon. We had a system of putting an exclamation point on big pooplosions. We were discussing last night (since we enthusiastically talk about poo over dinner) that we may need to recenter our poo exclamation point system. It's as if every poo deserves a '!' now...oh, and let's not forget that this kid can pee too.

the sweetest things

the sweetest things:

--aiden holding my finger, sometimes with both hands as I feed him

--the little uhhum noise he makes when he's finished eating

--when his pj are too big and the little footies are pointing the wrong direction

--his fuzzy hair gets even fuzzier and softer after his bath

--aiden nursing with one sleepy, but alert eye open

--chicken legs that suddenly kick out when the ripe diaper opens up

--the messy diapers that smell like cinnamon toast and eggs

--a milk mustache on a sleepy face

--aiden looking around in a bobblehead heapy squat in dad's bouncy lap

--big yawns with the skinny little neck coming out of its folds

--the look on his hungry little face when he gives daddy's scratchy face "a kiss" (aka an attempt to nurse)

--when his arms reach out for a hug when he's done with a diaper change

photos

Hip Hippo Hurray! Aiden's one month old and already pretending to be a chompy hippo... either that or he's just hungry.

Getting ready to hang out with our friends... It was really tiring putting on a real shirt instead of pjs.

Fluttery fingers are fun.

yay grunts

It's Aiden's one month birthday! He says yay but it's hidden in a good ol man grunt. Last night he was up to celebrate his birthday early like a little kid that can't stay asleep awaiting the excitement of presents and cake. It seemed like he was up every half hour feeding like crazy. I think he was looking to pack on a few extra ounces to show off for the doctor today. Turns out he is a solid 9 pound 6 ounces - which means he gained an ounce a day since he was last weighed! Hard to believe that he has gained that much off just breast milk. The doctor said he's looking very healthy. No shots this time, but she warned us that next time there will be some double and triple shots in each thigh. Aw, the chubby little chicken legs probably won't like that much. The doctor was impressed by his pooing grunt and explosion. Pooing at the doctor is a trend and this time he topped the charts with two full diapers in less than an hour. Here I go again talking poo... We've definitely settled in to life with baby.

sweet treat

J was sweet enough to give me a super little treat last night! I had almost 4 and a half hours of sleep without interruption. This was after nursing a crazy eater for over an hour (that was a quirky thing for Aiden to do even though he's been eating like a fiend lately, but I think he had heard about our plan to send me off to bed) and pumping about 4 oz earlier in the day (it's been hard to squeeze in the pumping since he is eating nearly nonstop lately). Luckily this bitty bit of milk lasted longer than I could sleep. I woke up completely engorged (with enough to pump and feed) but it was worth it. I immediately pumped and ended up with nearly double what I normally get in a ten minute "session" in about five minutes. It must have been early foremilk because it was greenish! It almost looked like J's icky lemonade drink (in the middle), late night milk on the left and usual pumping session on the right:
This milk is just as freakish as the idea that I'd be truly excited to have less than five straight hours of sleep!

big boy bath

Aiden has a completely healed big boy belly button now, so we decided that 4 weeks of sponge baths had to come to an end. We were going to tell him to go hop in the shower and take care of himself, but we decided to use the new baby tub to pamper him some more. I want a tub that has a hammock sling that suspends me above the warm water. It even has a head rest - gosh darnit! We managed to get the hippo wash wand to cooperate. It's pink cheeks turn white if the water is too hot - brilliant! The video below has a hammock chillin baby unsure of his first bath followed by a little fussy baby sliding around on his wet hammock.

Hmm, you've probably heard about tummy time. I'd read about it and seen adorable videos of my friends' kids playing on their tummies. We have a book that says to start doing it right away for a few minutes a day. Now I don't expect Aiden to be into olympic tummy time, but he doesn't seem to like it much. He will look at me from the corner of his eye like I'm some sort of nutcase putting him on his tummy. I googled what to do to help your kid with tummy time and they suggested a soft blanket under him to help him prop up, which I think just mucked it up even more(see the end of this video). Anyone have any tummy time suggestions?

happy holidays!

If the video doesn't show up, try this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O70hkGgd6o8

craft therapy

While my mom and sister were here they jumped in to enjoy some craft therapy with me. Since Aiden likes to be my cuddle bunny nearly all the time, I had to either work with one hand, watch them craft without me, or get Aiden in on the fun! We had a footprint kit with plaster that turned out to be a debacle with a crying baby and a smudge of blurry baby toes. But it spawned the idea of making some cute hand and foot print ornaments with Aiden's hand and foot prints. We ditched the plaster and got some simple sculpy clay that worked out pretty well and he didn't even wake up when we smudged his hand into it... the foot was a different story because we had to unwrap him from his cuddleduds. My mom helped paint out the cute little prints even though it took double coats all around. I can breastfeed and paint at the same time! Here they are - tada Aiden's first craft project:



My folks actually woke up at 5am on Black Friday (my dad won't admit he was part of the loser club) headed over to Linens-n-things and got me an early xmas present - a nice pre-lit fake christmas tree. I was resistant to the idea of a fake tree being our first tree ever, but it made sense because of the brand new carpet, the curious cats, and wanting to have the tree up as long as possible. Aiden's ornaments and some of his little loveys made good first ornaments. Aiden likes to visit the sparkly tree after nap time... he's calling for a visit now. I'll post photos (and maybe even a video) soon...

3 weeks of big days

Aiden's big days in the last three weeks:

Day 5: First doctor's visit - Our little munchkin was on track and even though he hadn't lost as much weight as they said you can expect when leaving the hospital (up to 10%) but they wanted to see him gaining it back so they had us schedule an additional appointment a few days later. He had gone through a pretty big growth spurt and had gained over 8 ounces in five days!

Day 6: Lost umbilical cord - Eeek, it was kinda early to lose it, but everything looked ok and dry. We double checked by calling the warm line to be sure (which is only warm between 9am and 9pm!?). At the next appt, the doctor said to hold off on his first bath under water for a bit, but she said it looked healthy.

Day 14: First trip out - Checked with doctor and she encouraged us as long as we kept him warm. He slept right through mama eating her salad bar (mostly cottage cheese) and stayed away from santa's germy lap.

Day 20: First walk around the block - Slept right through the beautiful 60 degree sunshine and color on the trees (He is pretty much asleep unless he is inside in someone's arms)

Day 20: First pumped breast milk from bottle - Daddy fed him the bottle and he took to it right away (We didn't even need to listen to the crazy rule about mom being 20 feet away). He didn't have any issue latching right back to me to top off the tank.

Day 21: First bubby attempt - Verdict is that he doesn't really like it much... He usually stops fussing after spitting it out. Figured it was worth a try since they say that the sucking is so comforting and there are actual statistics that there are fewer cases of SIDS with pacifier use. At least I know that I'm not the human pacifier.

now I know

My parents just left after spending three weeks helping, giving, and caring more than we could ask. I can only describe the time we spent with them as dreamy. I must have been dreaming while awake since I don't sleep enough to really dream. I can't decide which I appreciate the most, their generosity or their sense of humor. From corporate flimflam grocery checking scanners to startles caused by Aiden's toots, we mostly had fun doing a bunch of nothing. As my mom hugged me goodbye, she said now I must know how much she loves me because it's a parent's love.



Aiden says, "Hey, when ya coming back, Gran and Pop?"

thankful

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm forever thankful. It's so easy to overstate everything that makes me feel thankful, but who cares... I AM overly thankful, so it makes sense that it will sound overstated.

I am particularly thankful, grateful, appreciative (whichever is considered the strongest word) to my parents for being here. For being so excited to welcome Aiden that they drove through the night in a storm... For bringing along hippo welcome gardens, recipes, and scrapbooking... For their energy for crafts, grocery shopping, laundry, and cooking... also, to my sister for coming from so far for the perfectly timed trip... And most of all for making Aiden feel so loved.

I appreciate all my friends and family for listening and giving me the opportunity to listen.

I am grateful for the Thanksgiving parade, even though Mr. Peanut didn't have any stripes.

I am thankful it is nice enough outside to take Aiden for his first walk around the block today.

I am so grateful to J for being who he is. For being so comforting for me and Aiden... For saying Wow as Aiden was born and at those really pooey diapers... For being enthusiastic to rub my feet and to hug me straight on without a belly in the way... For being so passionate about his career but still prioritizing his family... For being my husband and creating our family.

I am thankful for Aiden for everything he is and will be.

worthy expectations

I've always wanted to be a mom. I had high expectations. Seriously high. These past two weeks have exceeded my expectations in every possible way. I love him more than I expected. Aiden is worth every stitch, every heavy eyelid, every bit of uncomfortable I've experienced in the past few weeks. I did not expect that when I came home from the hospital my body would still be completely out of wack. Thanks to peri bottles, sitz baths, and witch hazel I'm getting back to normal. I still have an outie belly button, but the baby fort has almost deflated completely. For the first few days, I thought that Aiden was keeping his vacation home in tact in case he wanted to go back in to take a break from all the cuddling. It was either that or the doctor hadn't delivered his twin yet. There is a lot you don't hear about when it comes to "the after labor", but it's worth it.

alleged due date

Today was my official due date. I think the over 8 lb baby born 2 weeks ago proves that due date wasn't correct. I feel like celebrating first that it's Aiden's two week birthday, but most of all that I was not pregnant up to this alleged due date. I'm cringe thinking how pointy the molding on this poor babies' head would've been by then since he was so wedged into the birth canal I'm surprised I could get my knees together. Instead his little cone head at birth is normal now (the doctor joked with us at first that it wasn't even that molded, but you don't see people walking around with cone heads so it will resolve itself)...

He has changed so much in two short weeks. I've absorbed his little face expressions and I can recognize the waspy talky cry as hungry. He isn't a fussy baby, but he has his moments. J was changing him earlier this week and he was fussing. J joked with him, "Oh, it's not so bad baby, I really think you're overreacting..." He replied with the biggest scream I've heard from him, as if to say I'll show you overreacting. Just made the rest of us laugh.

This little super pooper has poop fireworks that sound like distant pops you hear off and on the evening of the 4th of July. My dad was holding him and he was cooing and acting really calm. Without any gas pain superhero looks or cringing, the pop pop pop exploded, making his grandpa jump. He did his little lip pursing smile as the rest of us laughed.

A friend of ours sent us the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD which has me convinced we have the best little self soother. The swadling without access to his little hands doesn't seem to cut it and he will allow you to calm him like that and then he'll proceed to work his little arm out of even the tightest swaddle. It's as if he calms down so you'll leave him alone so he can concentrate on squeezing his little arm out (mainly so he can wack himself in the face with it). The shushing straight in his ear makes sense, but again I think he only calms down so you will stop doing it. J and my folks are more sold on it than I am, but we'll see if he gets fussier as he gets older if it will help, but seriously up to this point he really doesn't fuss too often.

He's really only fussing if he's hungry or he wants to play around and do his "num num goofball" routine. Num nums is my goofball name for breast milk, because it's just not fun to ask a baby if he'd like some breast milk - but isn't it fun to say "who wants some num nums?" yea, I can't help myself. His goofball routine when it comes to nums nums is similar to a crazy baby bird screeching, shaking his head, and smaking his lips before he finally decides to latch on. If I don't loose a nipple in this routine I will be amazed.

Breastfeeding has been going really well, but I clearly understand now that it takes serious commitment and sleep deprivation. He has been a latching superstar with what the nurse called perfect lips for latching. The doctor tested him last time to see how much he was getting. They weighed him, then had me feed him to weigh how much he was taking in. As he ate I had doubts that the scale was really going to pick up the difference. I asked how much more he was supposed to weigh after he ate and they said 1 or 2 ounces. Turns out he'd taken in 3 ounces from only one side and he'd just eaten less than an hour earlier. It was reassuring and I was glad he decided to show off for the doctor. He also exploded out of his diaper for the first and only time just as we'd arrived to the apppointment. Oh, what a proud moment. Seriously though, I am proud of his poos. I will spare you the details, although I am tempted to give you a rundown his poo/pee chart and recite the color changes for you.

We got away from his foostinky and food chart and the boppy for a couple hours today. He power fed back and forth for over two hours, so we all spontaneously decided to celebrate his two week birthday with a trip to the Ruby Tuesday's Garden Fresh bar (my favorite!). We tucked Aiden into the end of the booth in his seat. I was keeping a close eye on him just expecting my little power feeder to wake up and give me the baby bird routine. He was sleeping really soundly and at one point I looked over and there as a big spider hanging over his face. J reached over me to rescue him from the killer spider with his napkin. Phew, but just when I thought the furry spider that was about to grow teeth was no longer going to attack my precious baby, the ickiness showed up in my water! Oh, I have settled down, but that's a lot of over stimulation for someone that sits around cuddling a baby 24 hours a day.

Turns out that the mall connected to the restaurant was welcoming Santa today. Aiden essentially slept through all the hustle and bustle, and was completely unimpressed by the guy walking on stilts or the balloon making clown. Somehow Santa also brought the circus to the mall. It was a nice first family outing.

coming home montage

Another video time capsule welcoming Aiden home:

It's coming up as no longer available from this embedded link sometimes, but it's available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMAIMnz13W0

heapy dumpy

The nicknames are already flowing... My mom likes to call him heapy dumpy since he balls up like a little rump roast. My grammy used to call me the same... so glad he takes after me in his sleepy cuddle mode. My uncle (the family nicknamer who stuck me with my kiddie nickname, Peep) calls him Baby AB ay-bee.

I like to call him my little baby bird. His little neck stretches to yawn and when he's ready to nurse. Sometimes he squaks. Sometime he tweets. His wild hair looks like ruffled feathers, but even softer.

I also like to call him the gas pain super hero. He fights off those gas pains and you should see the fierce little face expressions he makes. He raises his arms and as if he's imitating a super hero, he punches away.

more photos

That baby fit in that tummy!
I keep adding photos to this link also:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/94324507@N00/HGe2e9

coming home

We were ready to come home. The hospital stay was breezy, but any longer and we would've been really stir crazy. I literally did not walk out of the room for over 50 hours. We were really ready by the time the construction on the room across from us started at 7am on Monday morning - They were cutting tiles! The room service good food could not outweigh the screeching. We had a gigantic wagon full of stuff and my mom had already taken a batch for us the night before. Dad took trips down to the car as I signed all of the discharge paperwork and got Aiden dressed. He liked wearing pants for the first time. He was also excited that his mom liked to wear pants too. The nurse gave us our discharge ticket, which we exchanged for Aiden's "I'm a superstar" sticker after they checked him out in his car seat.

I waddled after J carrying Aiden in the car seat suddenly realizing how sore I was. The bumpy car ride home was not something to look forward to, but the minute that Aiden's cheeks started to wiggle I was smitten and distracted. He slept all the way home. I called my folks to let them know we were on our way, and as we turned on to our street I saw them waiting in our hippo welcome garden. (Hippos my sister had created to help my mom celebrate her retirement now had a new job to hip-hippo-hurray to welcome Aiden home) Tears were brimming up and I was so happy my parents were there to welcome us. Aiden woke up enough to give Grammy and PopPop a little gas bubble smile to say hey thanks for making my mom and dad so happy. Then we introduced him to the cat who still thinks he is some sort of remote control device and looks to me like I must be making that move. Aiden may have been lulled to sleep by the car ride, but Mommy knew it was time to eat. He had his first meal at home and I suddenly realized how nice remote control beds are.

There are so many more tidbits and memories we've made, but it is somehow difficult to give the full picture. This week has exceeded my expectations. Aiden is exceeding the doctor's expectations - He doubled his pooping goal twice this week! - Oh, the excitement. I can hardly keep up with all the memories we've made in one short week.

happy birthday

Happy week birth day Aiden!

This week has gone beyond our expectations. I am such a cornball, and I can't stop replaying that Sarah McLachlan Ice Cream song in my head:
Your love is better than ice cream
better than anything else that I've tried
and your love is better than ice cream...
Your love is better than chocolate
better than anything else that I've tried
oh love is better than chocolate
everyone here knows how to cry

It's his birthday and he'll cry if he wants to...
P.S. Grammy and Auntie get all the credit for the hats and cupcakes...Aiden says Thanks!