That MOM With Sparkly Heels: July 2012

Thursday, July 26, 2012

2 months!

So, I have officially decided to only do monthly updates on the Hunt-man, because I get so busy that weekly updates are getting away from me! These past two weeks Hunter and I have been on vacation, so we have been just going, going, going! This update and picture is a week overdue, so he is actually two months and one week, but that's ok.

As for Hunter.... he is doing AMAZING!

I don't know why it wouldn't let me take the red eyes out :(

Sleep- he is consistently sleeping the first stretch 6-7 hours... even on vacation! Now that I am seeing his sleep cues, I am able to get him down for lots of naps, ranging from 45 minutes to 2 hours per day. Sometimes, we will get a 3 hour nap in during the day, but that is not the norm! The first few days on vacation were hard for him sleep-wise, but I can't blame him! He was in a new house, filled with about 20 people running around, AND it stayed bright light until about 9:45-10:00 at night. Who wants to sleep when it looks like playtime?

Car Seat- This is still an issue, which was kind of terrible on vacation since we were going non stop! We would spend whole days out of the house going from store to store, we even drove a six hour trip! He pretty much needs to be full, clean, and dry when he gets put in the car seat, swung or kind of shaken/bounced on the way out to the car, and then get to driving pretty much the second he gets clipped in. This will mean that he can ride happily for a while, and then he may fall asleep or get bored/hungry and start to cry. I mean scream. This is a work in progress that I hope can get better before the 10 hour drive to Florida in August!

Eating- He is nursing so well! One day when we were out and about, I forgot his pre-pumped bottles and had to nurse him during the day, sometimes in public (with a cover, of course!), and he did wonderful! When he does drink from a bottle he eats 4 ounces. He has been at 4 ounces for a while, so I fill it to about 4.5 or sometimes 5 ounces, but he doesn't usually finish it or he does and then he starts to spit up and I know he ate too much.

Alertness/Awake Time- He is SO alert! We get comments on it pretty much everyday about how alert he is, how pretty his eyes are, and how well he holds up his head. This is probably because he likes to be held on your shoulder, which kind of draws attention when you are pushing a stroller or shopping cart and holding him like that. Also, he still looks pretty small to be holding his head up so well in that position, which means we are constantly getting stopped and asked how old he is.

This is how he likes to be held all day, lol!

Tummy Time- This is NOT going so well. He hates it! I got a good idea from my cousin, and she said her doctor told her to try to do it after every diaper change, so he will get in at least a tiny bit here and there all day. Definitely going to try that and will hopefully have a better report on this next month!

Play Time- He is getting so darn social! He loves to smile, and some mornings he wakes up so happy that I swear he does a laugh as I unswaddle him! He likes to smile at high pitched sounds, and can sometimes be tickled just a little bit.

At his two week appointment, which actually took place at 7 weeks, he got his vaccines which literally BROKE. MY. HEART. He had to have one oral vaccine, and that was okay. Then he had to have three shots in his tiny little legs. I couldn't watch, and I am so thankful that Tim went with us. He was as sad about it as I was, but was able to help calm him down. He didn't feel very well for about 2-3 days after, and needed Tylenol to keep his mild fever down. That afternoon, though, he would just kind of seem in pain. His little legs hurt him, and he was telling me by stopping eating and just whimpering. I felt so bad. I had moved the appointment up so that he could have his vaccines before getting on the airplane, and even though it was only a few days early, I felt very guilty and like a bad mommy.

His appointment also gave us new measurements, and we all know how much I like updated measurements! He weighed 10 pounds and 11 ounces; and is 23 inches long. He is in the 25th percentile for height, 25th for weight, and 35th for head circumference. I feel like he is big because of how rapidly he is growing! Two inches longer in just two months?! I know he must be on the smaller side because of his percentiles, but many people comment on how he looks long and lean, so I am curious to see how the next appointment goes!
Here are some of his silly faces from our mini photo shoot:

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Hunter's First Vacation: Couer D'Alene Lake

Hunter's first summer has definitely been a busy one! Not only was he BORN, he is going to have traveled from one end of the country to another! I went back and forth about going on a vacation with my parents for a few reasons, but ultimately decided to make the trip up to Washington, Idaho, and Montana to visit family. Of course, they are in love, just like the rest of us down in Texas :)

Since I was so wishy washy on going, I missed the chance to catch the same flight as my parents, which left Hunter and I to tackle the airport by ourselves.... eek! I wasn't sure what to expect, but it actually went pretty smoothly. It's not ideal to travel with a 7 week old by yourself, especially when your baby is known to be a fussy one, but he did pretty wonderful! We really wished that Tim could have come, but he much preferred to spend his one week of vacation from work going to Florida, and there was someone else taking off work one of the weeks we would be gone, so he couldn't also be gone :( It was a bummer, and we missed him so much!

Our first stop was Post Falls, Idaho. My parents rented a house right on Couer D'Alene Lake so all of the family could stay there. There must have been 20 people running around this house at certain points, but we are a big close family who does not get to see each other enough so the more, the merrier! There was a great porch swing to enjoy the cool mornings and late evenings on, and we had our own room which was good for his naps. I have a pretty light sleeper on my hands!

Our house, not the best picture, but you get most of the idea. There was a lower level as well, with another huge porch. We likes that one because it was always shaded!

The top porch had a great swing on it. Hunter loved it!

My mom was a huge help! She is so in love with Hunter!

We ate at this place that had wonderful pizza, but terrible air conditioning. They said it was on, but it must have been at least 85 degrees in there with no cross breeze whatsoever! Hunter was hot, sweaty, and fussy.... this made a fussy momma! We spent the dinner in the air conditioned car nursing.

We bought this thing to sleep in called a Rock N' Play, and he loved it! It is the same brand and style (Snuggabunny) as our swing and bouncer. He had been sleeping in his swing at home, so this was a nice transition. It was also light enough for me to carry up and downstairs so he could easily hang out with the family where ever we were!

This is the traveling group, my parents, two of my brothers and sister , and my sister in law. We are checked out, loaded up, and ready to hit the road for the six hour drive to Manhattan, Montana!

On the way out of town, we stopped at a restaurant called Hunter's. Not only was it delicious, it was a great place to get Tim a t-shirt for obvious reasons!

Part two coming soon!

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Monday, July 9, 2012

Hunter: 6 and 7 Weeks

This week Hunter turned 7 weeks old! I can't believe how much he has changed in 7 weeks, it really just amazes me!

Due to having a freak out momma, he has been to the doctor a few more times than usual. We went at 2 and a half weeks because I thought he had an eye infection, it was really just blocked tear ducts. We went at 3 weeks because daddy had a staph infection and Hunter woke up one morning with a red dot on his chin. That one turned out just to be a red dot. We also went at 6 weeks because mommy was convinced he has acid reflux due to a sudden start of spitting up and being more fussy than usual (is that possible?) She gave us a prescription for Prevacid, and we gave it for a few days, then quit because his behavior didn't change while on the medicine, but it has changed since taking him off! If he starts to get fussy after a feeding like maybe he has 'heartburn', I give him a tiny bit of Maalox, and that usually gets him to quiet down and relax.

Going to the doctor more often than usual gives us pretty accurate weight updates, though, and I do like that! At 6 weeks he officially weighs 9 pounds and 8 ounces, which is exactly three pounds up from his birth weight. I think with the next one, I will make sure to embrace the tiny-ness of the first few weeks, because Hunter has grown up so fast. I know, I keep saying that, and one day I will blink and he will be 18, but he really is just growing up before my eyes!

He has started rolling over more consistently, I even have it on video now! Not that I want to show anyone, he is a crying mess and it makes me so sad and look like the worst mommy ever! He had rolled over twice happily, and then I ran to get the camera just in time to catch the third time when he had clearly had enough tummy time!

He is so alert now when he is awake! Each week he has been more and more alert, but his big blue eyes just look all around the room, usually at windows and light fixtures. He still loves to be on your shoulder, which may have to do with his possible acid reflux since gravity works in his favor when on my shoulder. He holds his head up like a champ, and can keep it up forever when he is looking around on your shoulder!

He is getting to much better at getting dressed. He has never liked getting dressed and undressed, but now he can stand it.... don't take too long, but if you're quick he will be happy from start to finish! Does any baby like to get dressed?

I think he is growing new hair underneath all of his baby fuzz. When he was born, he had an old man style receding hairline going on, but now underneath all of that and up front he has tiny brown hairs growing in that you can see when the light hits it just right.

Sleeping has gotten much better at night! He gives us between a 4 and 5 hour stretch when we first put him down, then 2-3 hour stretches after that. I have read that it is very common for the first chunk of sleep to be longer than the rest of the night so he is right on track. Now that I am better at picking up on his sleepy signals, he is also napping on a pretty good schedule. He has a pretty consistent sleep, eat, awake pattern which means that he is going about 3 to 4 hours in between feedings during the day. He also is a huge fan of all the white noise. No longer does he sleep through anything like in the newborn days! He needs peace and quiet in a darkish room with some sort of white noise... be it a hair dryer, vacuum, bathwater running, or his sleep sheep! We even bought another mini sleep sheep to put on his car seat! We have a pretty good routine in the mornings where he wakes up, eats, is awake for a while, then when I see the first sign of a yawn or heavy eyelids, I swaddle him put him in the bouncer on vibrate, then do dishes with the water running and I bounce him with my foot. Usually, by the time dishes are done, he is asleep!

For the past few nights (almost 7 weeks old), he has given us 6-7 hour stretches for the first part of the night! I cannot believe how much better I feel in the mornings and throughout the day when he does this! The other day, he slept from 8:15 until 2:15, then until 4:30, then I let him nurse while laying down in bed, and he slept for a while, woke up after a while (not sure of the time), and then we switched sides and he did the same and slept until 8! I woke up before him, and that is a first for us!

I have discovered a new type of swaddle since I have a little Houdini on my hands! He always manages to get his hands out of the bottom and I can tell that is exactly what wakes him up. He used to grunt and groan and fight that darn swadddle, but with this new style he keeps that to a minimum. I am sure that this is what is accounting for our long sleeps at night!

During his 6th week of life he started to socially smile! He has already smiled a few times at me and Tim, and once at the fan.... he loves that thing! I am so ready for him to start interacting and smiling as a result of being happy. I think this will help take him out of his fussy days. He is probably not what you would call a 'fussy' baby, but he is a pretty high needs/high maintenance baby. He likes to be held over the shoulder, hates any carried that I have put him in, and has started NOT falling asleep in the carseat. This means it is really hard to get any errands done. I used to rely on him falling asleep on the way, then sleeping through my errands. Lately, he has been waking up which has left me either bottle feeding him in the car seat in the cart, or going to a dressing room to nurse (yes, my errands usually have dressing rooms, lol!). The biggest problem is that he doesn't like to just..... 'be'. Once he is awake, no matter how clean, dry, and full he is, he still will fuss to get out of the car seat! I know it will get better, but I am ready for that day to get here!

Here is a photo dump, I have gotten in the habit of just snapping away while at home, but when we do things that need documenting, I forget to take pictures! I will try to get better about that!

Week 6: