So this post has taken weeks to create and it is no where near as detailed or interesting as I had hoped it would be:). There is just something about the transition from one to two kiddos....hmmm...somehow I am certain that so many of you can relate:). So really this is a boring post that probably only a mother could love....so enjoy the pics of my sweet, chunky and quickly balding little angel boy...oh and thanks for stopping by! haha
Please excuse all typos, grammar errors and illegible sentences. My only excuse is that I simply do not have the time to care...not now or anytime in the next 5 years:). LOL
I have a handful of hospital pictures and a birth story to share and some day I hope to get around to writing all that. I'm sure that post will take 6 months or more so um yah:).
At this point Bruin reminds me so much of Daisy both in his appearance and in his behavior. He is not a difficult baby but, he is also by no means an easy baby...he is a baby and babies are a lot of wonderful work can I get an amen:). He is in a little phase where he pretty much fusses any time that I am around him probably because he wants to eat 24/7 and I am his one stop feeding shop. It's a tad bit exhausting/frustrating but, I know it will pass in a blink. For now it's actually better if I lay him down somewhere with something to look at and stay away for a while. Just like Daisy, this little guy is not terribly cuddly at least not so far. More often than not, he cries when I try to walk around holding him and he squirms to be put down. He would much rather be left alone to stare at the ceiling fan. He has smiled more for that silly fan than he has smiled for any human. So not fair. haha I'm teasing but, I kind of wish that I was a ceiling fan just so that my baby would coo and smile at me every morning. On that note, I would say that Bruin has been a pretty serious baby so far. He doesn't coo or talk much at all and hardly ever smiles at us. He loves to observe things and can actually sit and observe one simple thing for an hour quietly...just like his momma. lol He is super sensitive to stimulation which I don't remember about Daisy. He shakes wildly, spits up, gets the hiccups often and even gets a lip quiver whenever he's under his play mat or even on the changing pad which he doesn't like. I try to keep things very simple for him as a result. I've read that some babies are hyper sensitive to stimulation for a year or so but, then they grow out of it. Maybe he'll grow out of it faster, we shall see. Maybe he is his Mommy's son after all...I do tend to like keeping things pretty simple and I shut down when life is too stimulating. lol
Babies change so much every day and already Bruin has changed a ton. I look forward to watching him grow and learning his personality more.
I adore this picture below because it is one of the very few that I have of Bruin sort of smiling. Pretty priceless when he smiles as little as he does:). Oh and doncha love the teeny tiny little mohawk:). He has since lost all of that hair unfortunately so it'll be a while before we can pull that off again. lol Sorry bud!
Bruin chunked up fast! We haven't had a check up since his two week appointment but, now at 6 weeks, I am quite certain that he is 10 pounds or over. I'm guessing of course but, I think my arms are telling the truth. I actually had to break out the 3-6 month zipper jammies last night because the 0-3 month jammies were not allowing him to straighten his chunky legs! That tells me that he is also quite long. I don't recall Daisy moving into this size quite as quickly so I am definitely thinking that Bruin is a larger kiddo both in length and weight at this point. Way to go buddy!
He is currently wearing size 1 diapers but, they are quite snug on him already. I am determined to finish off the pack (so as not to waste the money spent...lol) before moving him to size 2. Hoping this switch will happen quickly though because diaper blow outs are not my favorite thing.
Yes, my son has sprayed pee in my face probably about 3 times and I have also been sprayed all over at least a dozen times. The funny thing is that I do cover his boy part when I change his diaper but, somehow he manages to time it perfectly. When I take the wash cloth off to quickly pull the diaper up...he gets me....and it's especially fun when he pees in my face and then poops in the same exciting moment. I've literally just stood there with my eyes wide open at 3 in the morning wondering what I have done to deserve such a loving gesture. lol #boys
So let me think...think...think...yah know, it's really hard to think when I am only getting 3 broken hours of sleep a night!
Bruin ate almost every 2 hours during the day for the first 4 weeks of his life. Yes, it was and can still be a bit exhausting. He would sleep for 2-3 hours a night at a time so those stretches were only a tad longer. I was/am pretty much a non-stop milk truck. When I was a first time mom nursing Daisy, I thought that I had to stretch her to 3 hours or at least close to it since that was what I was told. As a result she was often a bit fussy in between feedings because she was probably hungry the first few months. This time around I'm letting the little guy feed on demand. It's less stressful for me and he is happier so win win. On the other hand it is making it hard for me to want to venture out because I can't even get a quick outing in without Bruin getting cranky or hungry.
I did get out for the first time today with Daisy and Bruin. Woohoo!! I cannot even emphasize how big of a deal this was for me. HUGE HUGE deal. haha. I was recovering from my C-section for the past 6 weeks and was not supposed to carry the car seat or lift anything, so I pretty much stayed home unless the hubby or someone else could go out with me and help with any heavy lifting. Today I went to Target with a very small list and managed to get a few things, though I did feel a slight edge of panic the entire time...wondering if the baby would wake, scream and cause me to flee the store with my basket left full in an aisle somewhere...yah know what I mean...well, thankfully that never happened. It was a beautiful, sunny day today and Bruin slept the entire time in his car seat while me and Daisy got a few things done. Daisy was a doll. Love my little girl so much and I praise God for a positive first outing, otherwise I might have concluded that I was not meant to venture out ever, ever again. haha.
What does he like to do at 6 weeks? Well, he especially loves looking at our ceiling fan in the living room while laying on a cozy blanket on the couch. This activity seems to be the least stressful for him. He enjoys his activity mat but, not for quite as long. The stimulation seems to wear him out more quickly and he starts fussing, waving his arms frantically and often spitting up after about 10 minutes. I also lay him in his crib under his mobile and strategically place toys around the edge for him to look at. This activity keeps him occupied for about 10-15 minutes at a time. Enough time for me to go pee and switch a load of laundry. :). He likes to hang out on his changing pad after he is changed. I lean over the dresser and chat with him for 10 minutes or so and this is the only place that I can get him to smile at me. Daisy loved her changing pad conversations too:). He likes to be held of course too but, mostly when he is getting tired and needing to be soothed. Otherwise he seems to enjoy a little space to look around at things.
I read Daisy's baby blog and it said that she was smiling a lot and cooing a ton at this point. Bruin doesn't smile much and he hasn't really started cooing/talking to me at all yet though a couple little sounds have come out...I'm just not sure if they were intentional or not. Bruin definitely makes great eye contact and loves being talked to he just seems to be a tad more serious than Daisy was.
He generally naps on the couch or in his little rocker during the day. Only in the past 2 days have I had any luck with the swing. Often times he will fall asleep in my arms first and then I transfer him to the rocker or couch. Up until today Bruin loved taking 20 minute power naps during the morning hours and then around 2 in the afternoon he hits a deep coma like sleep that lasts a few hours. Unfortunately even after this lengthy nap, all he wants to do is keep dozing off all afternoon/evening long....right up until bedtime which has made for much more fitful sleep at night. I continually remind myself how little he is and how long it can take to naturally train a tiny human to find a regular sleep pattern. It took me 10 months to get Daisy to sleep through the night and she didn't take a great nap until she was well over one year. Patience. Patience.
I keep telling myself that a newborn deserves time to adjust to life outside of the womb. They had 10 months to formulate a wonky schedule, so we can't expect them to just jump out and be ready to go on our time table. That being said, I've got a ways to go before we have a good sleeper over here by the looks of it.
Every night Bruin starts getting tired around 8 or 9 and this starts his longer sleep chunks. Unfortunately, long for Bruin is only about 2 or maybe 3 hours but, I'll take what I can get. He sleeps 2 hours or so and begins to fuss. Sometimes I can give him a pacifier and shush him and he will go back to sleep for another hour but, sometimes I have to go ahead and feed him at the 2 hour mark. Thus I get very broken, inconsistent sleep right now and my longest stretch in 5 weeks has been 3.5 hours. I have never woken him up at night to feed him but, he still wakes up hungry all on his own. Must be a boy thing:).
He has lost a great deal of hair but, just on the top of his head. The sides and back are still pretty thick. His hair is definitely thicker and darker than Daisy's hair was. I'm curious how long it will take for the hair on top of his noggin to grow back because right now he is sporting a pretty awesome culdesac:).
He will take a pacifier and it does calm him down but, he doesn't love it like Daisy did. Daisy took a pacifier instantly and never let it go. Bruin spits it out at every chance he gets and he gags more often than not when he is given the paci. It's actually kind of nice in the sense that he is much more relaxed without it than Daisy ever was but, I like that I can still get him to take it when he is getting fussy.
His chord fell off at just about the 2 week mark. We didn't even know it happened as it fell off at night in his jammies and my mom discovered it in the morning during a diaper change. His belly button is adorable:).
This was my first experience with a circumcision and I think that the pain from the circumcision might have contributed to our rough start with diaper changes. I can only imagine how much pain Bruin was in each time we changed him. After about 5 days he seemed to be feeling so much better and we stopped putting Vaseline on him after a week per the doctor's instructions. The whole process was not fun for me at all. I truly hated changing his diaper and seeing his swollen and even a bit bloody wound and when he cried his painful cry, it broke my heart. Poor baby:(. Thank God he won't remember any of it.
We gave Bruin his first real bath a week or so after his chord fell off. The only reason we waited so long is because I was still recovering from my c-section and I wanted to be able to be a part of the process. He did not like his first bath. He cried almost the entire time so I was quite stressed out unfortunately....I am not a fan of anything that makes a baby scream, even if it is for their good. lol. Since that first bath Bruin has gotten a bit more used to them. I can tell they still stimulate the heck out of him but, he doesn't cry anymore. We even got a smile out of him last time when Joey poured a warm cup of water on his tummy.
Diaper changes were horrific for the first 4 weeks or so. Bruin would scream pretty much every time and it was traumatic for all of us. My mom was staying with us at the time and bless her heart she changed most of his diapers so she got the brunt of the abuse. It really is a miserable task to change a diaper while a baby is yelling at you the entire time. We tried soothing him, singing to him, calming him etc. but, nothing helped initially. I am so happy to say though that now at 6 weeks my little guy seems to be much more used to diaper changes and even cold wipes. I guess he just needs time to get used to things like the rest of us. I get that:).
I adore this picture of my two babies. It is the first decent picture of both of them and it will definitely be printed for my wall collage. This was taken on Christmas Eve.
Daisy ADORES her baby brother. She wakes up so excited to see him and kiss him each morning. She brings her stool into his room every time he is getting his diaper changed. She is so helpful with his pacifier and getting a toy to entertain him. She doesn't like when he cries but, she seems to be old enough to understand that it's natural. She hasn't seemed too jealous of me spending more time with the baby and I am so grateful. On the other hand I do go out of my way to spend quality time with just her to fill her love tank so to speak. She has been a tad mischievous here and there with her brother. I found her bouncing a toy off his face (a soft toy and a soft bounce), one time and had to explain to her that it wasn't okay to do that. Another time I saw that she was covering his eyes for a bit too long and thought it was funny. She's learning...what can I say. lol Overall though Daisy has been awesome since the second week (the first week home with her was tough). She sings songs to him all the time and loves "holding" him. She is awesome. Bruin is so lucky to have such a nurturing and loving big sister. I look forward to watching their bond grow with time.
I have been sleeping on the couch for almost 6 weeks now with Bruin. He has a little bed space on the chaise end and I sleep on the long side. I had to sleep on the couch after my c-section because I slept sitting up at an angle for 3 weeks. I know that some people recover quite quickly from their C-sections but, for whatever reason my was rather slow and extremely painful. I will share more on that in my birth story post eventually.
Now I stay on the couch simply because it is SO much easier to tend to the baby quickly out in the living room and because it doesn't disturb my hubby. I am not quite sure when I will be transitioning back to my bed but, I hope soon as I am definitely over the couch after 6 weeks. The problem is that I get up over 8 times a night/early morning with Bruin at this point and I would hate to have to walk all the way to his room every time he woke up. I guess I will know when I know.
All I can say is thank goodness for Moms because my Mom was an absolute life savor for me after my c-section. She stayed with us for 3 weeks and missed Christmas with the rest of my family back in California just to help us out. She did countless loads of laundry, dishes, meals, diaper changes, late night baby shifts so I could sleep, errand runs, Daisy entertainment and I think best of all she was such a great moral support for me. I was a bit of a broken mess after my sudden C-section and unexpected painful recovery. My heart was in pieces for various reasons and her presence was just the calm I needed to heal and heal I did. Cannot thank you enough Mom just for being who you are, for serving me tirelessly and for being such a great friend in my time of need. I love you more than words can express. There is nothing quite like a Mom and a best friend all wrapped up into one awesome person:). Truth be told, I miss her like crazy and can't wait until our next visit.
Well, I have rambled on quite a bit in this post haven't I:). I have SO many pictures to share from my cell phone mostly. I hope to get on here and do that before Bruin is 18!
Thank you all so much for the meals we received over the last month! Seriously, thank you for the gifts, hugs, calls, texts, cards and so much love and support. I felt incredibly loved these past 6 weeks and incredibly blessed to know so many generous and thoughtful people. I wish I could hug all of your necks today! xoxo
