2 Months

Cole is two months old today!  Time flew with Jackson, but the days and weeks have passed even more quickly with Cole.

Cole continues to be a happy and laid back baby and we've thoroughly enjoyed the last month with him.  It's brought lots of growth and many big milestones.  Here are a few:

• Smiling - he started smiling around one month old, but not necessarily in response to us.  Over this past month though, we get big smiles when we get him up in the morning and after naps, and throughout the day. He's especially smiley while being changed, and when he sees you come into focus from across a room.
• Sleeping - we've transitioned him from the Rock and Play to his crib for overnight sleeping, as well as for naps. He takes most naps in his crib, though if he wakes up early and still seems sleepy, I often times hold him and cuddle with him so we can both catch up on Zzz's for a bit, or will use that time to run errands, during which he falls back asleep.
• Schedule - we're on a much more consistent schedule these days, which goes something like this:
• 7:30/8 a.m. - wake up, followed by first feeding (5 oz.)
• 8:30/9 a.m. - first nap
• 10:30/11 a.m. - second feeding (4-5 oz.)
• 11:45 a.m. /12 p.m. - second nap
• 2 p.m. - third feeding (4-5 oz.)
• 3 p.m. - third nap
• 5 p.m. - forth feeding (4 oz.)
• 6 p.m. - forth nap (in his bouncer or our arms, while we eat)
• 7:15 p.m. - bath time (every other night), fifth feeding (often with a top off shortly after), books, songs/cuddles
• 7:45/8 p.m. - bed time
• 2 a.m. - sixth feeding (5-6 oz.)
• 5:30 a.m. - seventh feeding (does not always wake up for this; in fact all of last week and most of this week, he's slept through this, so hopefully this will go away completely soon)
• We used to rock or bounce him to sleep but he started waking up within minutes of us putting him down, so we're working to put him down for naps and bedtime very drowsy, but awake. This seems to work much better, and he's been able to fall asleep on his own.
• His scrawny froggy legs are no more - they're chunking up, especially in the thigh area, which I love.  Jackson always had what I call "butt thighs" (fat rolls that make his thighs look like butt cheeks) and Cole has these now, too.  Love, love, love!
• When he wakes up in the morning and we take him out of his swaddle, he loves to stretch and it's adorable.  His arms immediately fly up above his head while he arches his back. He stays like this for a few minutes while yawning and kicking his legs.  I love to rub his belly and help him stretch, which gets lots of smiles from him.
• He tolerates tummy time well for a few minutes at a time.  His neck is getting very strong and he often uses this strength by arching his back and looking around when being burped.
• While he's not drooling nearly as much as J at this point, we have started to notice some drool when he's concentrating hard on something, typically the spinning bird over one of his bouncers.
• He's started babbling to himself and "talking" to us periodically throughout the day.
• While he's not actually breast feeding much (still tends to fall asleep or lose interest before he'd completely full), his diet consists of all breast milk for the time being (we'll be switching him over to formula before I go back to work at the end of May).  And while pumping can be a bit difficult logistically at times, I've been able to cut back the number of times I have to pump and no longer have to pump after his middle-of-the-night feeding - yay!  And with bottle feeding, it's been so nice to have flexibility over who can feed him, and to know how much he's getting at each feeding.

We had his 2 month check-up this morning, and his latest stats are:

• Weight: 13 lbs even (75%)
• Length: 24.25" (90%)
• Head: 15.7 (75%)

For comparison, his previous stats are here, and Jackson's 2 month stats are here.

Here are a few photos taken over the last month.

Hard to tell from the pic, but his arms were straight out in front of him. 

Love this bear suit.  It's so soft and warm - wish they made them in my size. And this beanie is too cute on him - it was a gift from one of our neighbors.

 

 

Love this snuggle bug, and his unswaddled sleeping positions, to pieces.

 

He started occasionally busting out of his swaddle last week.  I can't believe he actually fell asleep with his arms out!

He gets stronger every day.

Definitely still wobbly, but he tried out the Bumbo for the first time yesterday.  Looking forward to using this more as his neck gets stronger. 

Love how he clasps his hands while he's eating.

Changing table smiles

Apparently he's not a selfie fan...yet.

He waned to be held one day while I was prepping dinner and I remembered that we had a sling he could relax in while I cooked.  Loved being able to see this sweet face while I finished making dinner!

Enjoying a stroll through the neighborhood on a sunny day.

Out of the Mouth of J

 

 

They say kids say the darndest things, and it's no different with Jackson.  I look forward to picking him up from school each day, not just because I miss the heck out of him and want a big hug, but also because I can't wait to hear what he has to say.  And the talking doesn't stop there - he is my chatterbox, talking nearly nonstop until he's in bed falls asleep.

Of course, no conversation is completely without a few "whys?" from J, but it's the stuff between those "whys" that is the best.  I love how his mind works and enjoy seeing how he connects things.

Walking out of school, I mentioned that he should put his artwork in his backpack because it was windy out.  As he did that, he said, "Yeah, we don't want it to wind away!"

When it's cold or rainy outside, the kids play in the gym at school rather than go outside.  The gym was locked one day, so I'm assuming one of the teachers had to go find keys and/or someone to open it.  As Jackson was telling me this, he asked if he could bring his keys to school the next day so that he could unlock the gym doors.  (He has his own set of real keys that he used to carry around, rather than our keys, so we didn't have to worry about losing them.)

He's often extra affectionate while cuddling before bed.  I've mentioned it here before, but because it's not something he says every day, I can't get enough of it when he does say, "Mommy, I love you so so much..."

As Cole, J and I get to my car after picking J up from school, I tell Jackson to stand by the end of my car, just beyond Cole's door, while I put Cole in the car.  I tell him, "stay right here, and don't move a muscle!" so that he doesn't run out into the parking lot.  Recently, I've started to say, "okay, stand here and what should you not do?" and he replies with, "Don't move my muscles!"

Leaving his class each day, there's a huge bookcase in the hallway at school that has tons of books and toys.  J's recently taken notice of it and literally "shops" it for birthday list ideas. He'll leave his classroom and say, "I want to look at toys for my birthday list for a minute".  He consistently shows me the same toys, and has been know to show them to daddy at drop-off in the morning.  I love that he's so excited about his birthday and that he's planning ahead and scoping things out.

My grandma took a bit of tumble a few weeks back (she's recovering well) and we were talking about how she wasn't feeling well (she was sore).  Jackson said, "we can't go see Great Gramma because she might throw up on us...". 

And the best is for last.  While cuddling last night before bed, Jackson, out of the blue, said, "I like Cole. He's such a good baby."  Melted. my. heart.

6-0

We celebrated my dad's big 60th birthday over the weekend, and had a great time.  Jackson has understood the birthday concept for a bit now, but was so excited all week leading up/counting down to the celebration. He even remembered things like the fact that my dad's birthday is actually today, but we were just celebrating it on the 8th because they would be here. 

He talked about singing Happy Birthday, eating cake and ice cream, and celebrating by "putting sprinkles on".  I asked what he was going to put them on and he replied with, "On his birthday".  I think he literally thinks anything birthday related should have sprinkles.  I agree, I must say.

Jackson talked about opening his presents, and of course, my dad allowed him to help.  And even though none of the presents were toys, J had such a blast opening them.

Happy 60th, Dad!  You are an amazing father, husband, and grandpa and we are all so lucky to have you in our lives.  Thank you for always providing fun, humor, crazy dancing and singing (favorites include Deliverance's Dueling Banjos, and the Beverly Hillbillies theme song, to name a few), support and love.

 

 

And here's a short video of Jackson calling Grampa this a.m. to sing Happy Birthday:

 



Bed Time, Bath Time & More

Over the last two weeks, the rough nights with Jackson have gotten much better. I think there's only been one night since we started "Jackson + Mommy Time" that we've had to go back into his room after we've tucked him in.  He looks forward to our time each night, looking at the clock and asking how long until it's time, and then telling me what activity(ies) we'll do during that time. We've also given him extra cuddles during his bedtime routine.  

During one recent bedtime, I was singing our normal songs (Twinkle, ABCs and Row Row Row Your Boat) and Jackson asked, "Does Daddy sing to you before you go to bed".  How adorable is that?  I just love the way his mind works, and all the things he comes up with. I told him that I would ask Corey to, and asked him what song he should sing.  He thought ABCs would be a good song for Daddy to sing to me.

And here's a pic of our sweet toddler.  Has nothing to do with this blog post, but is cute nonetheless.  And, you'd never know it from his expression, but he's enjoying some leftover cake and ice cream from Grampa's birthday, which we celebrated last weekend.

Cole continues to enjoy bath time, and Jackson still loves to help rinse him off.  Here's a short video of Cole in the bath - my favorite part is the end where (I think) it sounds like he's trying to say "Hi!".

Cole's been smiling more and more each day.  He was very happy and smiley this a.m.:

The other day, he wanted to be held while I was prepping dinner and I remembered we had a sling that I could pop him in.  He seemed to enjoy it and I love this shot of him in it.  Seeing this face makes any chore fun.

Big Bro Update

I've been doing a lot of Cole updates, and figured some big bro updates were long overdue.

Jackson has continued to be a great big bro, often giving Cole kisses and "helping" however he can.  When I pick him up at daycare, he often rocks the car seat when I put it down to give him a hug.  He still loves to turn on the bouncer music for Cole, and is very gentle with him.  He also loves to help rinse Cole in the bath, and has even held the bottle for Cole during a feeding.

Last week, I was giving Cole a bath and waiting for J to finish his shower with Daddy so that he could rinse Cole.  Cole was crying a bit as the water had gotten too cold, and J heard him and came running saying, "he needs me!".  Adorbs.

He's had a few rough nights of needing extra cuddles in the middle of the night, and one night he became so upset that his crying made his cough flare up, and subsequently caused him to throw up.  After some extra cuddles (and a change of clothes and sheets), we had a talk about only calling us in if he's really hurt or sick, and that we love to cuddle but it's best to cuddle before bed, or in the morning, rather than the middle of the night.  We've also began "Mommy & Jackson" time each night before bed for 20-30 minutes, where I give him my undivided attention while Corey takes Cole, and do whatever activity he wants during that time.  He's been on a great streak since, and has been very proud of himself each morning, saying "I slept a long time and I didn't cry for you, Mommy!". 

In other Jackson news, I had Dora's "I'm a Map" song stuck in my head.  I mentioned this to J after I kept singing it, but what I didn't realize it that he hadn't heard the expression of a song "being stuck in your head" so he took it very literally.  He looked at me for a minute, looked at my head and said "Where is it, Mommy?!"  I explained to him that it just meant I couldn't stop singing it but, still unable to wrap his head around this concept, he then asked, "Is it still stuck?" as he looked at my head again.  Later on, he asked if it was still stuck and after I told him that it wasn't, he asked, "Where did it go?". 

Each night before bed, Jackson continues to watch YouTube videos of people playing with Sesame Street Play Doh tools.  Jackson loves Play Doh but one of the rules is that he can't mix the colors together or else everything would change colors or become the same color, which we know would upset him.  In the video we were watching, the woman was mixing colors, and he got very serious, looked at me, and said with concern, "She's mixing colors!".  I told him that she wasn't following the rules and he responded with, "I follow the rules, I don't mix the colors".  As we continued to watch, he kept talking about how he follows the rules.  So far, we've been really lucky with a kid who listens and follows most of the rules (including those much more important than Play Doh color mixing).  Let's just hope he continues on this path!

Cole - 1 Month

Cole is one month old today!  The days and months passed quickly with Jackson, but they are passing even more quickly this time around.

Corey and I took him in for his monthly check-up today and he's doing great.

• He weighs 11 lbs, 10 oz. (90%) - up from 9 lbs, 11 oz. at his 7-day checkup, and 9 lbs. 10 oz. at birth
• 22 3/4" long (95-98%) - up from 21.5" at 7 days, and 21" at birth
• 15 1/3 head circumference (90%) - up from 14 1/4 at 7 days

He's been sleeping well over night and has put himself on a fairly consistent schedule overall.  He eats every 2.5-3 hours during the day, with some awake time typically after each feeing (he still has some tired days where he prefers to go right back to sleep after eating).  He has his last feeding around 8 or 8:30 p.m. and is typically asleep around 9ish (though he's woken up and had to be rocked back to sleep a time or two the last few nights).  Like clockwork, he's up around 2 a.m. to eat again, and then again around 5:45 a.m.  He then goes back to sleep until about 8.

He continues to be a happy and calm baby, and we're looking forward to watching him grow and develop over the next month.

Family Photos

A few weeks ago, our friend Jen came by to take some family/newborn photos.  They turned out great and we are excited to have some photos of our complete family together. 

Here are a few of our favorites.  We used some of these to create Cole's birth announcement.

Thanks again, Jen, for shooting our family!

Cole's Arrival - Labor & Delivery

(Apologies in advance for the long blog posts lately.)

On Sunday, the night of Cole's arrival, Corey and I had climbed into bed just before midnight, after watching several episodes of Breaking Bad (we recently started that series on Netflix and were trying to get as many episodes in as possible before Cole arrived) when Jackson woke up crying.  He'd been sick with a horrible cold (probably the worst one he's had) and was having a coughing fit.  I got back out of bed and went to cuddle with and rock him.

As I was rocking him, I felt what I thought were contractions starting.  I'd had some very minor ones since my last doctor's appointment that Tuesday, but they were not painful and were not consistent at all.  These were mildly painful and seemed to be fairly consistent.  I finally got Jackson back to bed and started to time the contractions, which were 6-7 minutes apart.  They grew more and more painful over the next 30 minutes so I figured this must be it and told Corey.  Since it had only been 30 minutes or so, I didn't think it was time to call Joan (who was going to stay with Jackson) or my doctor, even though they were coming more and more quickly and quickly becoming more painful.  But, because we'd heard that second children often arrive much more quickly, Corey convinced me that it was time to call his mom and to start getting ready to go.  So, at about 1:15 a.m., Joan was on her way.  Any time I stood up, I would have another contraction and they were gaining in intensity, and were sometimes 3-4 minutes apart.

While we waited for Joan to arrive, Jackson woke up screaming again but I was in no shape to go back upstairs to check on him (I was either laying on the living room floor or couch downstairs at this point).  Of course he was calling specifically for mommy so he wasn't having any part of Corey trying to calm him down.  By 2:15 or so, I knew Joan would be at our place soon, so I headed out to the car.  I could hear Jackson screaming again, and it was so sad to be leaving him without being able to see or comfort him.  At one point, as Corey was running back and forth between loading the car and trying to console Jackson, Jackson got out of his bed for the first time ever and made it downstairs while continuing to scream his head off (he clearly knew something was up at this point).  Luckily Joan arrived then and could take over Jackson duty, and as we found out later, he quickly calmed down.

Due to dense fog that night, it took us longer to get to Overlake than normal and the contractions were consistently about 3 minutes apart at that point.  When we arrived around 3 a.m., Corey parked and then decided he had to re-park as he was over the line but I was definitely not in a patient mood.  I rudely asked him to "just park anywhere", climbed out of the car and waddled to the elevator.

We made it to the Labor & Delivery floor where I promptly sat down as the contractions came much more frequently when walking, and it felt much better to sit or lay down.  The woman at the registration desk, bless her heart, took her precious time photocopying our insurance card and questions, as I painfully had contraction after contraction.  Luckily, she didn't mind that I didn't have my license with me, which I mistakenly left at home. 

All of a sudden, about 5 minutes after our arrival, a felt a large burst of water and in all my pain, I thought my bladder had decided to fail me, so I told Corey I'd peed my pants. And, like last time, he told me it was probably my water breaking (duh).  At that point, the registration woman quickly called a nurse and Corey, bless his heart, told her he could clean up if she had some paper towels.  Registration woman instead told him that she'd just call a janitor. 

A nurse quickly rushed out to greet us and walk us back to check our progress. I didn't make it far before I stopped, grabbed the hallway hand rail, bent over, and breathed through another contraction.  She told me I was doing great, but then quickly asked "Are you pushing?!"  I was in so much pain that I didn't know what the heck was going on other than my wishing the contraction was over.  I told her I didn't know so she yelled for a stretcher and that plus two wheel chairs quickly appeared.

They laid me down on the stretcher and rushed me into a delivery room, while ripping clothes off of me.  At this point, I had my eyes closed in pain much of the time.  They quickly checked my progress and I heard someone call out that I was 10 cm dialed and +1, which I assumed meant it was go time and that there was no time for an epidural.  I'd had one with Jackson and had planned to have one with Cole, so hadn't thought about any breathing/pain management techniques. This made me a bit nervous, especially knowing how long I pushed with Jackson (3 hours) and I couldn't imagine being in that amount of pain for that much longer.

Thy told me to start pushing with each contraction and at one point in between contractions, I briefly opened my eyes and saw about 8 people in the room - many more than when I had Jackson.  The on-call doctor hadn't arrived yet, but there was a doctor in the room - not sure who he was but perhaps the ER doctor.  Regardless, but he was great - very calm and patient.

Everyone told me I was doing a great job pushing with each contraction, though I know I was loudly yelling/screaming with each one (I never would have pegged myself as a yeller), while grabbing Corey's hand as hard as I could (I'm surprised I didn't break it).  At one point after I heard comments about how much hair Cole had, the doctor asked if I wanted to reach down and feel Cole's head, which was partially out, to which I abruptly told him no and kept pushing, thinking anything else would prolong the pain.

At 3:38 a.m., Cole made his debut after about 20 minutes and what a nearby nurse confirmed was 10 contractions worth of pushing.  I was able to hold him right away, which was great (I had to wait a bit to see and hold Jackson, since the cord had been wrapped around his neck and they needed to check him out first).

I then heard the nurses and doctor throwing around guesses in terms of Cole's weight.  Some guesses were in the 9 lb range and I thought for sure they were crazy.  But they put him on the scale and sure enough, he was 9 lbs, 10 oz., a pound and a half more than Jackson had been!

They cleaned us both up and shortly after that, we received a call that our family was there and
 heard mention of "big brother" being there as well.  I was confused thinking that just my parents were coming to visit at that point, as they were planning to head straight there on their way in from Yakima, but soon Joan, Jackson and my parents walked in and were able to meet Cole mere hours after his arrival.  Jackson hadn't been able to get back to sleep, so my parents picked them up on the way so that everyone could meet Cole together.

My doctor came by the next morning to check on us and advised that if we do decide to have more children (which we're not planning on), I would need to come in after the first contraction given how quickly Cole arrived.  This is fine by me - I would be camping out at the nearest hotel for several weeks leading up to the due date to ensure I was able to not only get there quickly but also to ensure I was able to get an epidural.

Apparently deliveries like this aren't as common as one might think.  At our follow up appointment at the Overlake Women's Center several days later, upon hearing some of the details about Cole's birth, the nurse said "Oh so you're the one who almost had her baby in the hallway."  As if I wasn't embarrassed enough already - ha!
It's amazing to think this all took place nearly four weeks ago already.  Cole feels like he's been a part of the family forever, and we've loved getting to know him, and experience the feeling of having a completed family.

Crazy Town

Welcome to Crazy Town. Human population: 4.  Canine population: 1.

Last week, I proudly stupidly thought I had it all figured out.  Corey was back at work, and Cole and I had a perfect first week at home together. It was a mix of relaxation and lots of cuddles, walks during the sun breaks, errand running, showering/getting ready daily, and completing all household chores (one of my goals during maternity leave was to try to have my normal weekend chores completed in small doses throughout the week, so that by the time the weekends roll around, we could just relax as a family).  We had a great routine of picking up Jackson from daycare and once back at home, I would pump and/or feed Cole, spend time with Jackson while Cole finished napping in his car seat, and have dinner prepped for when Corey arrived home (granted, most of the meals were extremely easy and/or reheated, but they were still ready).

Things changed this week.

While I still thoroughly enjoyed my time with Cole, we haven't been able to sneak in any walks, we haven't run any errands, and only a few things are done around the house. 

Part of the change is due to Cole being more alert after his daytime feedings, which mean I've actually had to try to get him down for a nap when he starts to seem drowsy (vs. him passing out milk drunk immediately after his feedings, as he often did during his first couple weeks).  Some naps I haven't been successful at actually getting him to sleep, and others he's awoken early from, still tired, and I've had to get him back to sleep (think lots of singing, bouncing, rocking, and popping a paci in his mouth over and over).  The other thing is that Jackson woke up from his nap at school not feeling well one day.  I had to wake Cole up from a nap to pick J up and by the time we got home, we had a hangry baby and a sad toddler who needed attention.  I quickly gave Jackson some cuddles and got him situated with a snack and Dora episodes (as he continued to tell me "Cole's crying Mommy") before feeding Cole.  I'd told Corey I'd see how Jackson was doing before we decided if he needed to come home early, but thankfully Corey ended up coming home early on his own, and was able to help out.

Then yesterday, Jackson woke up early with a bloody nose so we kept him home thinking we'd need to take him to the doctor (one of the things he'd complained about earlier in the week was that his nose hurt and after the bloody nose, we were a bit concerned). The nurse I spoke to just said that, based on his symptoms, he was likely just fine and that bloody noses are common with colds and to keep an eye on him. Thankfully (again) Corey said he'd stay home to help out.

Even with two of us, it was nuts. Neither of us had showers, I didn't even get a chance to go to the bathroom before 10 a.m. (at which point I realized I was having lactation (i.e. leaking) issues and thus required a change of clothes....TMI, I know, but helps you understand the day we had).  Corey took a quick call for work and as soon as I sat down to feed Cole during his call, Jackson decided he wanted to play Play Doh.  Typically he requests a lot of help making things that he sees on the Play Doh box, so I warned him that I wouldn't be able to help, but I knew that wouldn't last long.  Luckily Corey was able to help him just as his call ended.  Then, Corey ran out to grab us lunch, and I realized then that Jackson needed to eat lunch and both boys would be due for a nap at the same time, while Corey was gone.  So, I helped Jackson make his PB&J and then got Cole to sleep in my arms while Jackson ate, all the while trying to clean up with one hand.  While making lunch, I wasn't thinking clearly, and put one of Jackson's plastic plates in the toaster oven to thaw the bread that was on it (oops) and that completely melted everywhere (see Exhibit 1 below).

Exhibit 1:

Once Corey got home, we ate a quick lunch while DJ Jazzy J spun tunes on his CD player.  Only problems with this are:

1) The conversations around what CD/song to play.  They went something like this:

Jackson (J): Daddy, what CD do you want?  The red one or the blue one?
Daddy (D): The blue one.
J: Daddy, the red one or the blue one?
D: The blue one.
J: Lets listen to the red one.  Daddy, what song do you want to listen to?
D: #1 is good.
J: Daddy, what song do you want to listen to?
D: #1.
J: Daddy, what song do you like?
D: #1.
J: Let's listen to #7.

2) J would then constantly change the song and each time a new song started, Cole would flinch and nearly wake up.  At one point, we were eating lunch while the National Anthem (and other patriotic songs - see Exhibit 2) was blaring from his CD player, Cole was moaning and groaning, about to wake up, and Corey and I looked at each other and couldn't do anything but laugh.  Our life is Crazy Town right now.

Exhibit 2:

Corey and collapsed into bed at 9:45 last night exhausted, wondering how stay-at-home moms do it.  I honestly can't wrap my head around it.  Watching one child on your own can be challenging and exhausting, but two is absolute craziness (even with two parents on hand, as you can see from this post).  I truly don't know how they manage getting both kids down for naps and/or fed when their schedules overlap, how they keep both kids happy, and how they manage to do something like make it to the bathroom before peeing their pants.  I have 110% respect for them and would love to know their secrets.

Until then...our crazy life continues in Crazy Town.

Happy Valentine's Day!

With a 2 week old at home, we kept Valentine's Day pretty low key this year - a small gift exchange and dinner at home.

My mom got each boy a special shirt to wear (Heart Breaker for Jackson and Single and Loving It for Cole) and they both looked adorable.

Jackson had been eagerly awaiting the holiday after spotting several of his wrapped presents earlier in the week and was excited to find some new books and candy inside this morning.  They had a little party at daycare and he received some Valentines, along with more snacks and candy.  And Corey brought home some treats from his co-workers as well, so Jackson has been in heaven.

Holidays are even more fun when seeing them through a munchkin's eyes!