6 Weeks Old

I've been wanting to post a new blog for a couple of days with some videos of Tanner, but I was having trouble figuring out our new video camera and wanted to wait for the weekend so Nick could fix it.  It's still giving us trouble so I will make a new post with some videos once we get that figured out.


Tanner turned 6 weeks old last Thursday.  It's so hard to believe he has been hanging around for that long already!  He's doing so great.  Remember when I posted about his weight gain problems? Well, I'm glad to say I never had to give him formula.  I started weaning off from the nipple shield and he seemed to be able to get more milk that way.  One night a few weeks ago, I nursed him and gave him 1oz of breastmilk in a bottle (like the pediatrician told us to).  Not 10 minutes later he projectile vomited all over his dresser, floor, and daddy.  From that moment, I knew it was the shield.  That was his last bottle.  I brought him to the clinic last Wednesday and he had gained almost a pound in 2 weeks.  I was so proud of him!

I just love this face!

"I want my paci back, Mom!"

Tanner is really starting to grow and develop.  He just loves to look around at different things on the wall.  Usually when I wear him in a baby carrier around the house and the commissary he promptly falls asleep.  But today during our weekly grocery visit he was wide awake and looking all around!  That is, until 10 minutes in when his head started bobbing and his eyes were struggling to stay open.  He passed out shortly after that and stayed asleep 2 hours, including throughout our walk around the neighborhood.

He really loves his activity mat, as long as he is laying on his back.  He does not like tummy time  We're still working on that though.  He has found his tongue, and likes to stick it out a lot.  He also makes the cutest noises when he plays.  And his favorite thing to do right now is stare at himself in the mirror on his activity mat.  

"My favorite mirror!"

Look at that fuzzy hair!

"I HATE tummy time!"

Octopus!

Caught it!!!

His beautiful smile!

I love my boys!

Isn't this just adorable?

Wordless Wednesday

One Month!

Little man is 1 month old!  How is that possible?


We're really starting to learn his personality.  And his cries.  I never thought that would be possible, but it's true.  He is such a sweet baby!  He loves to cuddle, and I love it too!  I adore having him on my chest sleeping, close enough to where I can just kiss his little head.  He's such a good baby.


He's starting to stare at things now.  We added a few star stickers on the bottom of the shelf above his changing pad and he just stares at them.  He will look for us when we're talking too.


He's still not too happy with tummy time, but he is starting to enjoy laying on his back on his activity mat.  He rolled over twice the other night.  But Nick and I think he just pushed up on his arm and leg and the bulkiness of his cloth diaper flipped him over.  Of course he wouldn't do it again when we got the video camera out.


He will sleep 2.5-4 hours at night. And he naps real well during the day.  (Last night was very different though, we were up 3 hours straight...)

Tanner is wearing this 'Cool just like Daddy' shirt because it's also Nick's birthday!

  (He really enjoys sitting up)

 Right in the middle of a yawn.

 Whoops! Falling over.

 Staring at Daddy

 Stretchhhh!

 Poor little guy has a bad case of baby acne right now.  But here's a close up for the picture frame Great-Grandpa Barber got him!  It's a frame that has a spot for a picture of each month in his first year.

Going for a walk, staying warm!  I just love this little guy!

Routine?

I think we may be on our way to starting a routine! Last night was Tanner's bath night (which he is really starting to enjoy). After his bath, his daddy lotioned him up good and he ate some more. He hung out in the living room with Nick while I went to bed.


Nick said they went to bed at around 11, which is great because Tanner woke me up at 3 to eat. He has been getting up at 2:30-3:00 for the past several nights. He will eat for an hour and go back to bed. He then gets up again at around 6:00-6:30. And eats again for another hour.


This morning he didn't want to go back to sleep so he got changed into his day time clothes and hung out in his crib, staring at the plane on the bumpers. This gave me time to get ready for the day.


I brought him out to the living room and he played on his tummy time mat. I actually think he was playing with the toys that hang down. I took a video of it. While he was playing, and Hank was watching him play, I washed dishes, drank my coffee, ate breakfast, and vacuumed. The vacuuming started putting Tanner to sleep so I moved him to the swing, and now he's passed out.


This is the most productive I have been in the longest time and it's only 9am!


The weather yesterday was amazing, in the high 60s. It won't be like that today but I think I will still take him out for a walk. I bought an Ergo baby carrier and he seems to really like it.


Here is my sleeping baby.

Overdue Thank yous

I am going to try to see if I can write this blog.  At least start it.  It's been way past due.  I have so much I want to say but I don't know if I will be able to express it all in the right words.


First, I want to thank all of my friends.  Thank you for being so great to me throughout my whole pregnancy, and even after.  Thank you for throwing me my baby shower.  Thank you for all the kind text messages asking how I was doing.  Thank you for the thoughts and prayers during labor and delivery.  Thank you for the flowers and gifts.  Thank you for visiting us in the hospital and checking up on us after we got home.  Thank you for the dinners.  You are all amazing and I am so lucky.


I want to thank my mother-in-law and brother-in-law for coming all the way to Oklahoma to be with us for Christmas.  Thank you for taking the time to take care of Tanner while I was able to sleep/shower/eat/heal.  Thank you for the help around the house and for cooking dinner.  I am very glad you were able to spend Christmas with us.  I know I was down a little bit, not really feeling the Christmas spirit, but being surrounded by family definitely helped!


Thank you to my dad.  He is so giving and sacrifices so much.  Thank you for sending mom to me for a month.  I know it was tough spending Thanksgiving alone and being away from mom for so long.  I absolutely hate that you were not able to come out here to be with us and meet Tanner too.  You deserve so much, and I love you more!


Mom, you and I have talked about this, but I truly am thankful for all you did while you were here.  You helped me so much before Tanner arrived, allowed my achy body to rest, helped with a huge Thanksgiving meal, kept me company.  You did so much for us while we were at the hospital.  I can't even list all the things you did for us on here because it would turn this post into a book.  And after we got home from the Hospital you did even more.  You cooked, cleaned, watched Tanner so I could sleep and re-cooperate, and most of all, you dealt with my crazy hormonal mood swings.  Now that it is 4 weeks since Tanner was born I can look back and see how 'unstable' I seemed.  I wouldn't have been able to put up with what you did, and I love you for that.  I'm so sorry for putting you through that, but I am forever grateful for all you did for us.


Nick, I can't begin to explain how great you are.  From the moment we found out we were expecting Tanner you were by my side.  You have done so much the past 10 months and never once complained (well,  maybe about the kitty litter, but I'll give you that one).  You are such a natural when it comes to being a dad.  You were by Tanner's side from the second he was born.  You are so great with him, and I can't wait to see you with him when he is able to interact a little more.  Thank you for helping me with him.  You do so much and I can't thank you enough.  I have fallen in love with you all over again seeing you as a daddy.  I truly have never loved you more.  You are amazing and I am so blessed to call you mine!

Nursing troubles

This isn't the post I wanted to finish writing last week.  That one will be pretty long and I just haven't gotten to writing it yet.  Tanner fell asleep in his car seat at the Pedi's office so I brought him in and let him continue sleeping for a little while.  That's why I'm writing this post now.


Tanner is almost 4 weeks old and he has just now gotten back to his birth weight.  He is not dehydrated.  He has 10-12 wet and dirty diapers a day.  He has grown a little taller and his head has grown 1 cm.  But for some reason he will just not gain weight.  He was 1 oz away from his birth weight last week.  The Pedi wanted me to pump and give him a bottle to see how much he would eat after he nursed.  We've been doing that a couple times a day.  He will take anywhere from 2-4oz after an hour long nursing session.


The Pedi is worried because she said she wouldn't think he would take more than 4oz total per feeding at this point in time, so if he is nursing for an hour and then taking 3oz after obviously he's not getting enough from me.  The problem isn't me, as I'm producing plenty of milk.  But for some reason he isn't able to get the milk from me.

I'm going to try to pump way more and give him a bottle after every nursing session.  I hope this works because I do not want to give him formula if I can  help it.  It just sucks because I will be hooked up to something all day long, either Tanner nursing, or pumping.  And when I'm done with that it will be time to do it all over again.  I sure hope we can figure this out!