11 Weeks - Small Improvements, and lots of smiles!

We're still not sleeping great, but we've had a few nights with 4 hour stretches, so I'm calling that an improvement!

This kid and his faces though...

I have taken SO many pictures of him this past week because he has been so smiley and giggly! It's wonderful!

We ran several errands this week, and I even got to go mountain biking on Wednesday evening - first time since I was 14 weeks pregnant! I forgot how much I enjoy it. :)

Found a hat with little ears on it... had to take a pic. 

Exciting things!!

Dargan & Kitty snuggles

We went to my parents' lake house this weekend which was a lovely time. We started out taking Dargan by the office on Friday to introduce him to all of our colleagues. He was SO well behaved and even gave some smiles and giggles. What a flirt! We then got through lunch and a 2 hour drive with zero issues. So happy!

I was worried because Dargan hadn't pooped since Thursday morning, and I just knew a big one was coming at any minute. Finally, around dinner time Friday night, we got what we'd been waiting for... and boy was it explosive!

He's going to hate me someday for posting things like this on the internet...

Bath time from Daddy & Grannie!

Yep, that was epic.

The rest of the weekend was pretty chill. Got a visit from my Aunt & Uncle from Charleston who we hadn't seen in about a year, and even got to swim in the lake. Didn't take Dargan in the water since we weren't sure whether it was OK or not, but hopefully on a future visit we can take him swimming!

Checking out the trees with Grannie.

Pensive.

We had about a 3 hour car ride home on Sunday and he only started fussing about the last 10 minutes of the drive. Fantastic little traveler! Had a relaxing evening at home and made some homemade pizza for dinner.

Giggling with Daddy!

I couldn't catch a good smile, just kept getting smirks.

Shiner wants to play, too!

We had an OK night last night. He slept from 9 until 1, ate from 1-2, then slept until almost 4. We got up at 6 to start our transition into a work week schedule (next week!!) when we'll be waking up at 5 regularly. Probably going to try some test runs later in the week to see if we really have enough time to get ourselves and D ready to go in the morning! 

I love early mornings! Smiles!

Ahhh I can't believe my maternity leave is almost over. I'm excited to be working again but hate the idea of leaving this little cutie alllll day! :(

A good night!

I just want to commemorate the great night we had last night. In reality it was still only 3 hour blocks, but we had NO extended period of screaming leading up to bedtime, so that makes it seem worlds better!

The pediatrician had recommended that we let D decide his own bedtime for now instead of fighting to get him on a schedule. She also gave us some samples of formula that contain a probiotic that helps with colicky fussiness and gas. So we gave him a small bottle around dinner time, then I nursed him until he was happy afterwards. He was wide awake, so we stayed downstairs until we started seeing some yawns.

At that point we headed upstairs, changed into pajamas, and read some books. He got a little fussy and acted hungry so we prepped his bedtime bottle of pumped milk, but he barely got started on it before he fell fast asleep! He then slept soundly in his crib from 10:30-1:30. I got up, nursed him, then he went back down until just after 5am.

He only slept until 7 after that, but hey, I'll call that good enough for now! It's a huge improvement over where we've been, that's for sure.

This morning he was so pleasant and still a little drowsy, so I swaddled him up in his big tortilla blanket... Baby Burrito!

10 Weeks - Smiles!

Lots of updates from this past week!

Just look at that grin! And sitting up in his Bumbo seat!

This was Take 1 - tired after a meal!

I've declared Week 10 as the week of first smiles. He's hinted at them before, but this week we definitely got some good ones and he's been more consistent and responsive to us making silly faces. He's especially happy first thing in the morning (after eating, of course).

Subconscious sleep smiles - we've had these for a while, more of a reflex, but still adorable!

Little sleepy grin.

Big sleep smile

Finally with eyes open!

I still haven't captured a really good one while he's awake, but this one was good enough for the "smiled for the first time" card. Hooray smiles!

We've not had great sleeping patterns, still. He'll usually do one longer stretch starting around 10/11pm, then a shorter stretch after the next feeding, and then by 3 or 4am he's up every hour. We did have one really great night where he slept for two 4.5 hour blocks, but unfortunately that was after he had his 2 month immunizations and we'd given him doses of Tylenol.

He's also been really clingy and wanting to be held all.the.time. This is where the sling and wrap have come in handy.

Why can't I put you down, child??

I've been able to do some physical activity which has been great and helps my mood, but it's always a struggle to decide whether to exercise or to nap. We went for a run one morning and though it was as good run, it really got me thinking and I wrote an introspective journal entry on post-partum running.

My exercise buddies one morning. 

We went for a short hike at Paris Mountain last week where we walked around the lake. It was nice to get out in the woods for a bit! I even nursed him while we were on the trail. Just call me Crunchy Hippie Granola Mom (not really).

On Friday we had his 2 month old checkup. He is now 10lb 8oz and just shy of 22 inches long! He got several immunizations an we've also been given some physical therapy to do with him since he favors lying on one side of his head and it's a little bit flat.

Friday evening was the second of three Beer BBQ 5k races, this one at Thomas Creek in Greenville. It was super hot (near 100F) and I was really hungry, so I wasn't able to run the entire way like I'd hoped, but I did much better than the first one 4 weeks ago and we cut 10 minutes off of our time! Finished in just under 35 minutes.

Dargan slept the entire race.

Over the weekend I had a chorus coaching session on Saturday, which meant I was away from Dargan for about 8 hours, the longest period of time since he was born (other than when he was in the NICU). He and Scott had a full day of errand running and doing things around the house together.

Thumbs up for hangin' with Dad!

The pediatrician suggested sitting him in the Bumbo seat more frequently to help him get stronger and more stable with sitting up. He's been doing really well, though he gets tired after a while.

How long am I supposed to sit here?

I can't believe I only have another week and a half with this guy at home before I go back to work! I'm excited to get back to work - I really have missed it - but I just hate the thought of being away from him all day, especially when he's happiest during the day. I'm going to miss all his happy hours! Maybe daycare will help him get into a better routine and he'll sleep more at night (HAHA wishful thinking).

Sleeping at night? What a silly concept!

We keep hoping he'll just magically start sleeping eventually. I can't figure out what keeps him up. He fights being put to bed SO much... cries for hours and nothing comforts him except nursing, whether he's hungry or not. Even then he'll fight sleeping. It really wears on us having to deal with that when we're wanting to go to sleep so badly! Hopefully soon. SLEEP, CHILD, SLEEP!

9 Weeks Old - Mommy's Little Monster

Let's see... this photo just about sums up everything:

Little monster is right! Little I-won't-sleep-at-night-no-matter-what monster, AND I'll scream at you if you put me down for 2 seconds!

Seriously.

Most of last week was pretty low-key due to all of us getting over our respective illnesses. We're all pretty well now, thank goodness, and I think D got the least of it, so that was a relief. He still gets a little stuffy at night sometimes but I think that's normal. I still sound a little froggy, but I feel back to normal except for the occasional coughing fit. Scott's sinus infection seems to be on its way out as well. Hooray!

A good bit of the week while we were homebound was spent trying to capture Dargan's apparent new ability to lift up his head!

Not quite yet...

Definitely can do it when propped up!

Finally captured a little lift!

It's pretty impressive. We can hold him sitting on our laps now and only occasionally he has a little head bobble.

Milk drunk snuggles are the best!

On Friday, Dargan turned 2 months old - my how time flies (the days, not the hours)!

Yeah, two months old! *fist pump*

All week though I swear his sleep patterns have gotten progressively worse. Scott and I are both at a loss as to how to get him to sleep more than 2 hours at a time at night! We try bottles, we try nursing, we try swaddling, we try not swaddling, we try night lights, we try swings, we try white noise... only last night when we got the new white noise machine he actually went 4 hours between feedings. Fed him at 10pm and were shocked when we woke up to his cries, looked at the clock and saw it was almost 2am... shocking but awesome! He only went in 1 hour blocks the rest of the night, unfortunately. *sigh* Baby steps (oh so small baby steps).

We did have a pretty fun & busy weekend, though.

Saturday we went to the TR Farmer's Market in the morning, ran on the Swamp Rabbit up to the market and back from Furman... hooray more running! Still pretty slow, but felt good to exercise again after the setback of being sick. Then we went to the babywearing meetup so I could learn how to use my ring sling. It was very helpful, and so I put the new knowledge to good use when we went to the Quest Brewery 2nd Anniversary Party.

"Mommy's Little Gentleman" not being very gentlemanly when he gets hungry!

It was not air conditioned and in the mid 90s that day... quite warm to have a little heater strapped to my belly! But we had a good time nonetheless.

Sunday we went to the pool in the afternoon and Dargan spent most of the day napping in the shade. He did wake up towards the very end to try out his new floaty... he's not quite big enough for it yet, but he seemed to enjoy the water a little more than last time.

Check out my tricycle swimmy pants!

We also finally found a pacifier that he will sometimes take... which has been great on a few occasions. Unfortunately if he's really worked up, he will refuse everything except nursing. That's great if I'm around and have nothing else to do, but my goodness, it's hard to get anything done with this sucker (pun intended) attached to me all the time!

Mute button working... momentarily.

Yesterday I was all geared up for a nice morning run, got dressed, had breakfast, fed D, and went down to get the stroller.... only to find that we'd left it in Scott's car, which was at work. Dang! So I improvised and did a little strength routine while rocking D in the carseat with one foot.

He also sacked out in his swing for a good hour and a half while I showered and had lunch. I almost feel bad for just sticking him in it and leaving him there, but obviously he was comfy!

We went for a run this morning which was pretty nice - it's cloudy out and only in the low 80s. We did about 3.5 miles, 2/3rds of which were running!

Here's hoping for perhaps another 4 hour stretch of sleep tonight... oh pleaseohpleaseohplease!! Mom and dad are about at our wits' end here!

Gratuitous cuteness to finish the entry, as usual:

8 Weeks Old - Little Traveler!

A few days late but...

When did my tiny baby turn into a little boy?? He's alert a good bit of the day now, which is fun to interact with him, but makes it more difficult to get things done while he naps!

Hoping this video upload works... but look at how he follows the phone with his eyes & head! "Tracking" as it's called, is a big developmental milestone... way to go D!

We were just starting to get pretty good at our night time routine when we disrupted everything for weekend travels, and now unfortunately all 3 of us (Dargan, Scott, and myself) are sick with various forms of colds - Dargan is sneezing and runny nose, Scott has sinus congestion, and I have a sore throat & laryngitis. What a fun household we are! I took D to the pediatrician today just to get checked, and she said it's just a regular cold & will have to run its course. Unfortunately it will probably get worse before it gets better, but as long as he's eating and not running a high fever, he should be fine to work through it within a week or so.

Making faces with Daddy

Just looking around - I like staring at ceiling fans!

Yawns during morning floor playtime.

We had an eventful week - the weather wasn't too terrible, so I went for a few run/walks around the neighborhood.

A little warm outside.

On Wednesday, Grannie & Grandpa Wetmore came to stay for the night. They watched Dargan while Scott and I went to the Community Tap 5th Anniversary Party - lots of fun! They also helped with the overnight shift and let Scott and I get a little more sleep than usual. Appreciated as always!!

Thursday morning we went for his circumcision follow-up appointment, and the Dr. said all was healing great and there were no issues. Hooray!

Friday was our big travel day... we were heading down to West Palm Beach, Florida for the long holiday weekend to visit Scott's family.

Got my travel outfit on.

We had a flight out of Asheville, so we headed up in the morning, got some food, nursed D before we boarded, and then nursed him again on the flight. He had a little fussy spell in the boarding area while we were waiting for the incoming flight to unload, but other than that, he slept basically the entire flight. I was SO thankful and proud!

In the AVL airport... can you tell by my face that I'm nervous??

Snoozing on the plane after a snack.

We were picked up by Scott's dad at the PBI airport and again D got a little fussy in the car on the ~45 min drive to their house, but overall, he did great. The rest of the day we hung out at the house, visited with Scott's brother, David, and his wife & 1.5 year old son. Dargan got to meet his cousin Oliver for the first time! It was very cute.

On Saturday we had the extended family over for a July 4th cookout. Everyone was soooo excited to meet Dargan, and of course we were excited to show him off! :)

July 4th outfit #1 - thanks Jeff & Deidre!

Outfit #2 - thanks Grandma Trenor!

Oliver & Dargan with great-grandmother  :)

Sunday was a day of South Florida breweries - lots of fun, and again, Dargan generally did really well!

Stop #1 - Funky Buddha Brewery

Stop #2 - Due South Brewing Co.

Stop #3 - Copperpoint Brewing Co.

Copperpoint was kind of special because it's a brand new brewery - opened on 5/11/15, the day after Dargan was born, so he's 1 day older than the brewery itself!

It was during the day Sunday that we all started to feel kind of icky, and by the night, poor Dargan was sniffling and congested, and Scott and I both had sore throats. That made the travel home not so fun, but again, we all did ok and made it home for some much-needed rest.

Oh, and did we mention that Mr. Chunk here now weighs TEN POUNDS??

'Sup ladies... check out my rolls!

Edited to add a couple of things...

1) I did this comparison photo. WOW what a difference in 6 weeks! That striped onesie? Can't even snap it anymore and it's so tight across his belly!

2) Got the digital image of our chorus photo from competition this year, which features a fabulous profile shot of me on the front row, rocking the 30-week bump! Oh the stories I'll be able to tell Dargan about all the things he did even before he was born. :)