Out n' About

James and I took our first mommy/baby trip out without Eliot yesterday. Our last trip to Target was a complete disaster (meltdown in the kleenex aisle), so I needed to go out with him just to prove I could.

We went to Toys R Us first (a safe place where there is a changing station AND a nursing room) and then, because he was still sleeping, we walked over to Barnes and Noble and I celebrated our successful trip with Jane Kirkpatrick's newest book in her newest series about a woman photographer in the early 1900's (BTW, Lindy, I think you would love this series!).

The trip as a whole went really well. Granted, it took two hours to get out the door, but then James slept the whole time and we had fun wheeling around in the stroller. I got some netting to put over the stroller at Mt Rainier to keep the bugs out and a couple "mommy loves me" bibs that were on sale because pretty much ALL our bibs say Daddy loves me, which is fine but I was starting to feel left out!

I also learned that doors that do not open automatically are the dumbest thing ever. Seriously. Ever tried to get a stroller through a manual set of double doors? Good luck.

I would like to mention, as it is noteworthy, that James slept not one, but TWO 4-hour stretches last night. Hallelujah! I think we are fixing the oversupply problem too, as he is sleeping better and his rash is going away. :-)

Gotta go do laundry...but I'll leave you with this... James's first real smile that I finally caught on camera (he's been smiling for a week now!):



Oh, and I also like these:

Breastfeeding woes

First off, I want to say that I am not going to quit breastfeeding, just in case anyone was concerned about that. But...

I'm not enjoying breastfeeding. Really, really not. It seems I am struggling with oversupply this week (never thought I'd have that problem)... James has had pretty much every symptom in the book for oversupply. And I'm trying to correct the problem with info from La Leche league International... but it's going slowly.

Basically, I'm tired of being another person's food source, especially when I feel like I can't do it right. First I had problems with a bad latch, and then just as I'm about to figure that out, this new problem arises. He also has a small diaper rash that doesn't respond to any creams and is probably another symptom of there being too much lactose in his system from oversupply (we're calling our pediatrician tomorrow).

On the upside, oversupply causes him to gain weight quickly, which isn't a problem to be concerned about. He weighted 10 lbs 6oz at last weight-in on our scale (Oh my goodness!). I think he is also almost 23 inches long, which makes him a very big boy who has outgrown all his newborn clothes and most of his 0-3 mo clothes. Already. At 5 weeks old. *tear*

But yeah. I like pumping and giving him a bottle more than breastfeeding because breastfeeding feels like a wrestling match every time to get him to have a good latch and feed long enough on once side to completely empty that side (he likes to quit early for some reason). I will keep trying hoping it will get better... but man, I dread feeding times.

We went to Target yesterday and it did NOT go well. He was sleeping just fine when we left home, but he seems to be one of those babies who doesn't like being in a stroller so much... he had a meltdown 5 minutes into our trip, and I couldn't concentrate on what to get nor find a decent place to breastfeed him (there are cameras everywhere in those stores!) so we finished our shopping quickly and went home. There we discovered the main cause of his wailing... he needed a diaper change. Had we thought about that in the store, we could have taken care of it and continued our trip... but live and learn as new parents, I suppose.

Since I had little sleep at this point, it was too much for me to take. Luckily Eliot was very sweet and took care of James to give me a break. He even offered to do so while I went back out shopping, but I didn't want to do anything but sleep and eat. So he went out to get us some Thai food and we called it a night.

Parenthood includes a lot of adjustment. We knew that would be the case, but it doesn't make it any easier. I wouldn't give up the little guy for the world though... he is an amazing blessing and wonderful addition to our family. Now only if he would sleep through the night...

James is 5 weeks old today!

Our little bean is 5 months old today! We love him to pieces! He has started smiling in the last few days (real smiles!) and it melts my heart to see it. Sadly I haven't caught one on camera yet... but I do have a few cute shots with the froggy Jodi gave James!









Here is a link to the rest of the pics for James's second month. I will be adding pics to this album for the next three weeks. :-)

James Second Month

We are celebrating James being 5 weeks old by... taking a nap. And maybe going to Target for a few frames. Yeah, our live has gotten a bit less adventurous...

Milestones

I thought I'd take a second to share a few of James's milestones that I've noticed in the past few weeks...

He can lift his head for long periods of time and has great neck strength. We hardly need to support his head when he's awake and active (we still do just to be safe, but he is really strong!).

He has a very long torso which make him a tall little fella... he's almost outgrown his "newborn napper" in his pack n' play not by weight (15lbs) or milestone (rolling over) but by length. He just barely fits in it length-wise! This long torso also means he is wearing 3mo onesies and has outgrown pretty much everything Newborn (unless it was big to begin with). Luckily we have lots of clothes courtesy of his twin cousins (thanks Levi and Asher!) so it's not a big deal that he's in the next size up already.

He can track an object with his eyes if you put it in front of him and move it from side to side. His favorite toys right now are Jacque the Peacock and a little round ring that rattles and has lots of black and white (he sees mostly contrasting and bold colors at the moment).

He likes to straighten and kick his legs, and sometimes if you hold him upright he will try to "stand." I was amazed he could do that already, I thought it would be awhile for that one...

He can switch between breast, pacifier, and bottle without batting an eye. James is a very fast learner. :-)

He loves lights and reflections of lights on shiny surfaces (much like the cat!). He will gaze out the window during the day when we change him.


That's all I can think of for now. He's been eating every 2 hours or less since 8pm last night... I wonder if he is going through another growth spurt because this is the same thing he did a week or two ago. He barely sleeps and wants to eat almost constantly. Right now, though, I got him to go to sleep in the swing, so I am going to crash on the couch while I have the opportunity (I only got 4 hours of sleep last night).

James's first month

I made this video of James's first month... it's about 12 minutes long and may take a minute to load. Enjoy!

One month old today!!

James is one month old today!! To celebrate, we went to the beach. Well, at least for a minute or two... it was WINDY and cold, normal for the Oregon coast. At least it was sunny!

This was sort of a test run for future trips we have coming up...James did very well. He slept the whole way there and most of the way home. We learned how to change a diaper in our tiny car (yes, we need a new one, but it will be awhile before we can afford one since we will only pay cash for it). We also learned that for such a tiny person, James needs A LOT of stuff to go anywhere. Like, a ridiculous amount of stuff. Which means we will be limited to car trips for awhile. But at least now we know we can leave the house for a few hours and survive! Yay!

Here are a few pics from out outing today (James is in the Moby wrap):

So true...

I love this little comic:



I never before thought that even 3 hours in a row constituted a good night of sleep. Parenthood changes everything...

Sleeeeeeep! And first bottle feeding!

Last night I got more sleep than I've gotten in weeks, if not months. We decided that since James is getting close to 4 weeks old and breastfeeding is going well, he could have a bottle of expressed breastmilk in the mornings with dad and let mom sleep 6 hours in a row for the first time in a LOOOONG time.

We started out two nights ago just giving him the second half of the feeding by bottle in the evening, just to see how it goes. Eliot fed him his first bottle, and James was a champ... didn't even hesitate taking to the bottle. And the best part was he went back to breast just fine after that, so no nipple confusion here!

So this morning Eliot gave him a full feeding by bottle and I slept. And slept. And slept. Which was so necessary because I had only about 3 hours of combined sleep in the night before.

Here are some pics of his first bottle feeding:




And some other pics I love:









And there are more added to the "newborn" album in case you need more cuteness!

James Sebastian Grasso

We are also thinking about taking James out for his first trip as a trial run for our big trek up to Mt Rainier next month... maybe to the beach this weekend or something. We'll see how things go in the next few days and play it by ear. :-)

Cute James Quirks

Now that we've known James for three weeks, we are starting to get to know his personality and some of his quirks. I thought I'd share them here so you can all get to know him too...

When he's hungry, he doesn't really cry so much (unless you wait waaaaay too long), but he does do this heavy breathing/panting thing that is hilarious.

He loves to put his arms up next to his head when he is sleeping. He'll even houdini himself out of his swaddle to have his arms next to his head, sometimes in a football GOAL!! style. :-) If you remember his ultrasound pics, he had his arm up next to his head in one of those as well.

James likes to eat about ever 2 1/2 hours, except for a couple cluster feeds in the evening and around midnight.

He doesn't cry too much at all, even when getting his bath. We put on "Under the Sea" while bathing him, and he listens to us singing instead of crying (most of the time). Our pediatrician predicted he would be a mellow baby, and that he is. But he does have his moments of letting us know he is not happy (during diaper changes, if we wait too long to feed him, etc).

He likes the Moby wrap, but ONLY if I am walking around with it on. The moment I sit down with it on, he gets fussy.

He will now turn his head to look at Eliot or me if we start talking to him. :-)

There are a few more, but I'll leave you with those for now because he's waking up to eat!

Three weeks old!

James is three weeks old today! We went for a walk as a family down by the Willamette River to celebrate. I can't believe it's been three weeks... he's growing up so fast!

Here are some pics from the day's activities:









We had our first successful trip out in public today that included breastfeeding and changing outside the home. James did very well, and it helped save my sanity a bit to be out in the fresh air and have a change of environment.

I'd also like to add that I think the crying the other night was related to a growth spurt, as last night he went back to his 3-hour feeding schedule. YAY! I am hoping we can just skip the whole purple crying thing, God willing. Eliot and I are starting to adjust to the new pace of life and things are getting easier day by day. I am still recovering, as I am reminded every time I forget to take my pain pills, but doing much better than I was. If I could only get 6 hours of sleep in a row...

I'm pretty sure James is gaining weight as he is already outgrowing some of his newborn clothes and his newborn diaper covers are getting smaller. It breaks my heart to have to put away the tiny onesies that he only wore once (if that), but I know it's a good thing that he is growing. :-)

Gotta run, time for another feeding (and a bit of watching "A League of Their Own"...There's no crying in baseball!).

Crying...

Well, James spent all day and evening yesterday (from 4pm to midnight) eating almost constantly with only 20 minute breaks here and there. Then from midnight to 2:45am he cried. It is possible that he may not have cried if I had continued feeding him (it had stopped the crying in the previous 8 hours), but I was exhausted and needed a break, so Eliot took him out to the living room and sat up with him while I got some sleep. It was awful.

I am wondering if this is purple crying or if James was just exhausted from being up so long. It would make sense that he was just overtired since he was up for sooooo long. He seems to be back to a normal 2.5 hour feeding schedule today. Maybe he's been going through a growth spurt as well?? I am just hoping this isn't a pattern he's developing of screaming for 3 hours every night! I guess we'll know soon enough...

Time to go feed the little critter again. Good thing he's so darn cute. :-)

James's first 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day everyone! It was our little patriot's first 4th of July, so we decided to celebrate by relaxing at home, grilling some chicken, watching The Patriot and laying in the hammock. It was fantastically low key and uneventful. Here is an album of pics from James's first 4th of July:

4th of July 2010

And a short video of our time in the back yard...



Happy Birthday America (and to Mom too!)!

2 weeks old and first trip out!

James is two weeks old today!


We love this little guy so much!! Today we all took a family trip out to Fred Meyer to celebrate his first two weeks of life (and to get me out of the house!). It is a LOT more complicated to go to the store now, let me tell you... it took us at least 30 minutes to get out of the house, and we had to go back twice because of forgetting things. BUT James did great, he slept the whole time, and, thanks to the cover Aunt Lindy gave us, no one tried to touch him in the very busy grocery store! Yay!

Here is a pic of James and I in the bakery section:


And some shots in the stroller (thanks Great Aunt Diane! It's working well!) and the car:



I get updates every week like before about what is happening for our little man, so I thought I would add that here too so you all can know how James is developing:

Your womb was a warm and cozy environment, and it takes time for your baby to adjust to the various sights, sounds, and sensations of life outside your body. You may not be able to detect much of a personality just yet as your baby spends his time moving in and out of several different states of sleepiness, quiet alertness, and active alertness.

The only way your baby knows to communicate is by crying, but you can communicate with him through your voice and your touch. (He can now recognize your voice and pick it out among others.)

Your baby probably loves to be held, caressed, kissed, stroked, massaged, and carried. He may even make an "ah" sound when he hears your voice or sees your face, and he'll be eager to find you in a crowd.


And finally, for your viewing pleasure, a pic of our new family (sans cat):

He's a big boy now!

Today was our two week check-up and James's circumcision... both went very well. He is growing and weighs 7lbs 9oz (one ounce more than his birth weight). The doctor says everything looks great, we just have a bit of a diaper rash which the doc said is probably caused by him having sensitive skin and his poo being very acidic. But other than that he looks great!

The circumcision went well, I didn't watch it but Eliot did (I couldn't take it, I hate to hear my boy in pain!). This kid is so mellow, he hardly screamed at all the whole rest of the visit. He just looked at the doctor with wide eyes while he was all unwrapped... amazing! The doc predicted at the last visit that James would be a mellow baby. I think she is right, and I thank the Lord every day for it.

After the doctor's visit we came home to relax. I took a 3 hour nap on the couch with James while we watched a National Parks documentary on Netflix.

Tomorrow we are off to get a few provisions for our quiet 4th of July celebration with just the three of us... it will be James's first trip to Fred Meyer! I plan on getting some coconut oil as well for his rash since it is cloth diaper safe (it dissolves in hot water unlike vaseline). For right now we are using vaseline and the rest of our hospital sposies until the rash clears up.

I gotta run and eat dinner while Eliot occupies the little one with some Beethoven in the other room. :-)